Do I ship it?

Games › Tanks › Tanks + Turn-Based Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Turn-Based Combat Tank game?

Tanks + Turn-Based Combat

Only 18 developers shipped a Turn-Based Combat Tank 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, Warside, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×653 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 23 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 11.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 23 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tanks + Turn-Based Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $366k → $150 → $28k → $33k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tanks + Turn-Based Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $7.2k (exactly $7,196)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $33,278)
Top 5% $410k (exactly $410,086)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 71
Announced 23
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 15% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Tanks
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Turn-Based Combat
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Tanks, Turn-Based Combat; all of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,230 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $7.2k, 1 in 4 over $33k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + HistoricalFair25 devs · median $5.4k · 26 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  3. + Turn-Based TacticsFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  4. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Open WorldFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 11 announced
  6. + 2D PlatformerFair11 devs · median $599 · 11 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds10 devs · median $16k · 26 announced
  8. + RPGPoor odds13 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  9. + Action RTSPoor odds12 devs · median $4.0k · 19 announced
  10. + Real Time TacticsPoor odds22 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  11. + TacticalPoor odds49 devs · median $2.5k · 85 announced
  12. + SimulationPoor odds35 devs · median $2.3k · 56 announced

All 71 pairs on the Tanks page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Phantom Brigade 2023 · $4.0M Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2021 · $1.4M Combat Mission Shock Force 2 2020 · $1.1M The Troop 2023 · $979k Headquarters: World War II 2024 · $609k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Phantom Brigade older $29.99 4,412 81% 132k $4.0M (exactly $3,969,476) Brace Yourself Games
Fuga: Melodies of Steel older $39.99 1,181 93% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,416,846) CyberConnect2
Combat Mission Shock Force 2 older $59.99 624 80% 19k $1.1M (exactly $1,123,013) Battlefront
The Troop older $39.99 816 83% 24k $979k (exactly $978,955) Giant Flame
Headquarters: World War II older $39.99 508 74% 15k $609k (exactly $609,448) Starni Games
METAL MAX Xeno Reborn older $39.99 444 65% 13k $533k (exactly $532,667) 24Frame,inc.
Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg older $39.99 442 84% 13k $530k (exactly $530,267) Starni Games
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 older $39.99 360 96% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) CyberConnect2
Warside $24.99 547 68% 16k $410k (exactly $410,086) LAVABIRD
Panzer Strategy older $29.99 437 64% 13k $393k (exactly $393,169) Starni Games
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 $39.99 220 89% 6.6k $264k (exactly $263,934) CyberConnect2
Apes Warfare $14.99 90 95% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,473) GigaQuests, STOIC Ent.
Mini Tank Mayhem $11.99 93 88% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) Algorocks
Earth vs Mars $14.99 74 85% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) Relic Entertainment
Neuroshima Hex $9.99 93 72% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,872) Baked Games
Tactical Annihilation $15.99 56 98% 1.7k $27k (exactly $26,863) B.G. Game Studio
Frontline: Assault Corps WW2 $14.99 33 75% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Frontline: Games Series
Cold War Battles $19.99 12 91% 360 $7.2k (exactly $7,196) Kudos Games
Panzer Commander $6.99 12 100% 360 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Fancing Game Studio

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