Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Vehicular Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Vehicular Combat Survival game?

Survival + Vehicular Combat

Of 27 developers who shipped a Vehicular Combat Survival 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.. 75 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×4587 the market median. Revenue is up 1115% on the market; 75 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 1115% on the market, 75 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Vehicular Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $178 → $40k → $2.4k → $358 → $70k (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Vehicular Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $958 (exactly $958)
Top 25% $80k (exactly $80,496)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 95
Announced 75
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 1115% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Vehicular Combat
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Survival, Vehicular Combat; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, Crafting
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 62% positive over 20,300 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $960, 1 in 4 over $80k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mad Max 2015 · $35M Trailmakers 2019 · $25M TerraTech 2018 · $15M SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M From the Depths 2020 · $8.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mad Max older $19.99 57,651 91% 1.7M $35M (exactly $34,573,305) Avalanche Studios
Trailmakers older $24.99 33,465 92% 1.0M $25M (exactly $25,088,710) Flashbulb
TerraTech older $24.99 20,564 92% 617k $15M (exactly $15,416,831) Payload Studios
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
From the Depths older $24.99 11,059 89% 332k $8.3M (exactly $8,290,932) Brilliant Skies Ltd.
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
TerraTech Worlds · EA older $29.99 2,027 62% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,823,692) Payload Studios
Carmageddon: Rogue Shift $39.99 752 62% 23k $902k (exactly $902,174) 34BigThings srl
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Crashday Redline Edition older $11.99 1,528 89% 46k $550k (exactly $549,622) Moonbyte
Human Host · EA $16.88 866 83% 26k $439k (exactly $438,542) Virtual Matrix Studio
Echoes of Elysium · EA $19.99 506 61% 15k $303k (exactly $303,448) Loric Games, Inc.
Snow Ash $14.99 179 73% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Ember Studio
Nightmare Drive · EA $14.99 156 78% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Voidfiller
Duneborn $11.99 35 51% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,590) A.P Games
Enemy Inside · EA $12.99 10 100% 300 $3.9k (exactly $3,897) Six Ways Games

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