Games › Sports › Sports + Strategy
Should I ship a Strategy Sports game?
Sports + Strategy
Of 273 developers who shipped a Strategy Sports 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.. 342 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 342 games are announced against 189 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,092) |
| Top 5% | $156k (exactly $155,938) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 273 |
| Released games | 1,266 |
| Announced | 342 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Sports, Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 55% positive over 44,551 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 195 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 342 games are announced against 189 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
theHunter: Call of the Wild™ 2017 · $102M 
Football Manager 26 2025 · $39M 
Need for Speed™ Payback 2020 · $25M 
Golf With Your Friends 2020 · $23M 
Session: Skate Sim 2022 · $16M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | theHunter: Call of the Wild™ | older | $19.99 | 170,472 89% | 5.1M | $102M (exactly $102,232,058) | Expansive Worlds |
| | Football Manager 26 | $59.99 | 21,490 37% | 645k | $39M (exactly $38,675,553) | Sports Interactive | |
| | Need for Speed™ Payback | older | $29.99 | 27,424 85% | 823k | $25M (exactly $24,673,373) | Ghost Games |
| | Golf With Your Friends | older | $14.99 | 50,748 88% | 1.5M | $23M (exactly $22,821,376) | Blacklight Interactive, Team17 |
| | Session: Skate Sim | older | $39.99 | 13,460 83% | 404k | $16M (exactly $16,147,962) | crea-ture Studios Inc. |
 | EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 26 | $69.99 | 5,416 52% | 162k | $11M (exactly $11,371,975) | Tiburon | |
 | Motorsport Manager | older | $19.99 | 11,499 91% | 345k | $6.9M (exactly $6,895,950) | Playsport Games |
 | Golf It! | older | $8.99 | 24,695 90% | 741k | $6.7M (exactly $6,660,242) | Perfuse Entertainment |
 | Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 7,077 78% | 212k | $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) | Cyanide Studios |
 | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
 | EA SPORTS™ College Football 27 | $69.99 | 2,583 40% | 77k | $5.4M (exactly $5,423,525) | Tiburon | |
 | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
 | Esports Manager 2026 | $19.99 | 3,860 73% | 116k | $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) | Neurona Games | |
 | EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 27 | $69.99 | 793 36% | 24k | $1.7M (exactly $1,665,062) | Tiburon | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Football Coach: College Dynasty | $19.99 | 1,485 95% | 45k | $891k (exactly $890,554) | SidelineSim Studios | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 27 | $49.99 | 475 82% | 14k | $712k (exactly $712,358) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Pro Cycling Manager 25 | $39.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $595k (exactly $595,051) | Cyanide Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.