Games › Tactical › Tactical + Western
Should I ship a Western Tactical game?
Tactical + Western
Only 9 developers shipped a Western 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, DEAD END COLOSSEUM SS, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $45k, ×72 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 14 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) |
| Top 25% | $9.6k (exactly $9,646) |
| Top 5% | $45k (exactly $45,499) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 14 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 100% 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
- Tactical
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 249,032 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 14 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Hunt: Showdown 1896 2019 · $192M 
Desperados III 2020 · $14M 
War of Rights 2018 · EA · $12M 
Hard West 2015 · $2.5M 
Hard West 2 2022 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | Desperados III | older | $39.99 | 11,880 96% | 356k | $14M (exactly $14,252,436) | Mimimi Games |
| | War of Rights | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,441 88% | 403k | $12M (exactly $12,092,868) | Campfire Games |
| | Hard West | older | $19.99 | 4,103 74% | 123k | $2.5M (exactly $2,460,569) | CreativeForge Games |
| | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
 | The Oregon Trail | older | $29.99 | 1,220 79% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,097,634) | Gameloft |
 | Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive | older | $4.99 | 2,111 87% | 63k | $316k (exactly $316,017) | Spellbound |
 | Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge | older | $9.99 | 261 50% | 7.8k | $78k (exactly $78,222) | Spellbound |
 | DEAD END COLOSSEUM SS | $10.99 | 138 83% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $45,499) | TLACHTLI | |
 | Helldorado | older | $9.99 | 138 76% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,359) | Spellbound |
 | Bounty Trail | $6.99 | 84 52% | 2.5k | $18k (exactly $17,615) | September Games | |
 | Boogey Hunters | $6.99 | 46 84% | 1.4k | $9.6k (exactly $9,646) | Keep The Engine Games | |
 | Revolver Gambit | · EA | $9.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | Welch Antony |
 | A Fistful Of Yankees | $6.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) | Pulsar Creation | |
 | Mole or Not | · EA | $2.99 | 15 53% | 450 | $1.3k (exactly $1,346) | EY GAMES |
 | The First Mine | $4.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Stefan Böttcher | |
 | Dead Man's Gulch | $1.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $239 (exactly $239) | Off the Clock Hermit | |
 | Noon Saloon | $6.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Racc PG |
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.