Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Steampunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Steampunk Tactical game?

Tactical + Steampunk

Only 13 developers shipped a Steampunk Tactical game 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, IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $13k, ×21 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $7.9M, ×12680 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 21.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 30 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Steampunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $299 → $1.2k → $54k → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Steampunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $13k (exactly $13,495)
Top 25% $224k (exactly $224,078)
Top 5% $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 51
Announced 30
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 up 100% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Steampunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 15,243 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $220k, 1 in 20 over $7.9M.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
They Are Billions older $29.99 46,223 85% 1.4M $42M (exactly $41,586,833) Numantian Games
IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator $19.99 13,278 97% 398k $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos
Scythe: Digital Edition older $19.99 3,164 89% 95k $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) The Knights of Unity
Guns of Icarus Online older $4.99 8,245 91% 247k $1.2M (exactly $1,234,276) Muse Games
Airship: Kingdoms Adrift older $29.99 902 75% 27k $812k (exactly $811,529) Revolution Industry
Ratten Reich $19.99 616 40% 18k $369k (exactly $369,415) METALLADLERSTUDIO
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
Dead Weight $12.99 575 82% 17k $224k (exactly $224,078) Klukva Games
Prime World: Defenders older $9.99 729 78% 22k $218k (exactly $218,481) Nival
Vaporum: Lockdown older $17.99 292 83% 8.8k $158k (exactly $157,592) Fatbot Games, s. r. o.
Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution $24.99 72 68% 2.2k $54k (exactly $53,978) Studio Imugi
HEXSTORM: Tears of Arcadia $8.99 56 75% 1.7k $15k (exactly $15,103) Tearevo
The Dawn: Sniper's Way $24.99 18 22% 540 $13k (exactly $13,495) PHOSPHORUS GAMES
Gemwielders $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Simon Sailer, Enhydra Games
Robugs $6.99 3 66% 90 $629 (exactly $629) Marcin Rodzon
Decodence · EA $3.99 4 75% 120 $479 (exactly $479) Scalar Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.