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Should I ship a Turn-Based Strategy Space Sim?
Space Sim + Turn-Based Strategy
Only 17 developers shipped a Turn-Based Strategy Space Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Approaching Infinity, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $390k, ×621 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 13 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $535 (exactly $535) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,547) |
| Top 5% | $390k (exactly $390,203) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Space Sim
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Space Sim, Turn-Based Strategy; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Strategy, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,036 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
60 Parsecs! 2018 · $992k 
Approaching Infinity 2025 · $390k 
Deep Space Battle Simulator 2021 · $107k 
Space Wreck 2023 · $87k 
Lord of Rigel 2024 · $68k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 60 Parsecs! | older | $9.99 | 3,310 90% | 99k | $992k (exactly $992,007) | Robot Gentleman |
| | Approaching Infinity | $17.99 | 723 95% | 22k | $390k (exactly $390,203) | IBOL | |
| | Deep Space Battle Simulator | older | $9.99 | 358 78% | 11k | $107k (exactly $107,293) | yeswecamp |
| | Space Wreck | older | $16.99 | 170 88% | 5.1k | $87k (exactly $86,649) | Pahris Entertainment SIA |
| | Lord of Rigel | older | $19.99 | 113 69% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | Rhombus Studios |
 | Flotilla | older | $9.99 | 202 83% | 6.1k | $61k (exactly $60,539) | Blendo Games |
 | Deck & Conn | $14.99 | 110 74% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,467) | Funtime Electrics | |
 | Space Cats Tactics | older | $14.99 | 100 74% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,970) | Mitzi Games, Alex Nicola |
 | Command Deck | · EA | $14.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | k-critical |
 | Stellar Sovereigns | older | $24.99 | 20 55% | 600 | $15k (exactly $14,994) | Imagined Reality |
 | Warp to Sector One | · EA | $11.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $15k (exactly $14,748) | hextor.Games |
 | Galactic Simulator2: Stargate | $5.99 | 42 78% | 1.3k | $7.5k (exactly $7,547) | PcZ Games | |
 | Star Titans : War of the Galaxy | $14.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Mediawork | |
 | Exodus: The Colonization of Space | $6.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | Artex | |
 | Star Scum | · EA | $14.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) | Soft Realm |
 | Hired Stars | · EA | $19.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | Mark Kaps |
 | Cosmic Outpost | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Gökdeniz Yılmaz |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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