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Should I ship a Space Sim Tactical game?
Space Sim + Tactical
Of 36 developers who shipped a Space Sim Tactical game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 63 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3296 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 63 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,736) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,069,749) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 103 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 10% on the market, supply 315% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Tactical; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Exploration
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 11,183 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Space Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DestructionFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + WarFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SportsFair
- + DiplomacyLong shot
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Strategy RPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
Comparable games
FTL: Faster Than Light 2012 · $19M 
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Angels Fall First 2026 · $2.1M 
Tower! Simulator 3 2022 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FTL: Faster Than Light | older | $9.99 | 62,763 94% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,810,071) | Subset Games |
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Angels Fall First | $17.99 | 3,835 81% | 115k | $2.1M (exactly $2,069,749) | Strangely Interactive Ltd | |
| | Tower! Simulator 3 | older | $59.99 | 1,047 67% | 31k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,286) | FeelThere |
 | Industries of Titan | older | $29.99 | 1,553 61% | 47k | $1.4M (exactly $1,397,234) | Brace Yourself Games |
 | House of the Dying Sun | older | $19.99 | 1,939 89% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,162,818) | Marauder Interactive, LLC |
 | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
 | Airship: Kingdoms Adrift | older | $29.99 | 902 75% | 27k | $812k (exactly $811,529) | Revolution Industry |
 | Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes | $24.99 | 1,039 76% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Alt Shift | |
 | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL | |
 | Space Reign | $19.99 | 444 72% | 13k | $266k (exactly $266,267) | Propulsive Games | |
 | Nonentity Galaxy | $9.99 | 587 94% | 18k | $176k (exactly $175,924) | Brick-Up Studio | |
 | BattleGroupVR2 | · EA | $24.99 | 209 85% | 6.3k | $157k (exactly $156,687) | SpaceOwl Games |
 | Deck & Conn | $14.99 | 110 74% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,467) | Funtime Electrics | |
 | SpaceSlog | · EA | $24.99 | 45 66% | 1.4k | $34k (exactly $33,736) | Produno Games Studios |
 | WarOS | · EA | $19.99 | 29 72% | 870 | $17k (exactly $17,391) | The7 Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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