Games › Strategy › Strategy + Vikings
Should I ship a Viking Strategy game?
Strategy + Vikings
Only 14 developers shipped a Viking Strategy 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, Viking Frontiers, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×513 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 39 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
| Top 25% | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) |
| Top 5% | $322k (exactly $322,039) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 61 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Strategy, Combat, PvE
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 65% positive over 881 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Northgard: Definitive Edition 2018 · $57M 
The Banner Saga 2014 · $10M 
A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA 2018 · $7.4M 
Ancestors Legacy 2018 · $6.1M 
Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Northgard: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 54,478 85% | 1.6M | $57M (exactly $57,185,557) | Shiro Games |
| | The Banner Saga | older | $24.99 | 13,470 88% | 404k | $10M (exactly $10,098,459) | Stoic |
| | A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA | older | $19.99 | 12,326 70% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,391,902) | CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Ancestors Legacy | older | $34.99 | 5,794 80% | 174k | $6.1M (exactly $6,081,962) | Destructive Creations |
| | Bad North: Jotunn Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,344 93% | 370k | $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) | Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg |
 | Expeditions: Viking | older | $29.99 | 3,293 82% | 99k | $3.0M (exactly $2,962,712) | Logic Artists |
 | The Banner Saga 2 | older | $24.99 | 3,186 89% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,388,544) | Stoic |
 | Frozenheim | older | $19.99 | 3,463 70% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,076,761) | Paranoid Interactive |
 | The Banner Saga 3 | older | $24.99 | 2,647 77% | 79k | $2.0M (exactly $1,984,456) | Stoic |
 | Land of the Vikings | older | $25.99 | 1,960 72% | 59k | $1.5M (exactly $1,528,212) | Laps Games |
 | Viking Frontiers | $19.99 | 537 51% | 16k | $322k (exactly $322,039) | BLUM Entertainment | |
 | Spear Song | · EA | $14.99 | 170 88% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Divovision Games |
 | Horn of the Warlord | $14.99 | 30 96% | 900 | $13k (exactly $13,491) | MagicKrol | |
 | Battle Synth | $4.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) | Cow Games | |
 | Trolls vs Vikings: Reborn | $5.99 | 28 92% | 840 | $5.0k (exactly $5,032) | Megapop | |
 | North Hunt | $6.50 | 24 75% | 720 | $4.7k (exactly $4,680) | NewGen | |
 | Regnum Idle | $4.99 | 19 63% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | Vexos Games | |
 | BARHEIM | $5.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | Dusk Wave Arts LLC | |
 | Raidbound | $4.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Rustin Robinson | |
 | Lord Of Island | $2.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $538 (exactly $538) | TungataGames |
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.