Do I ship it?

GamesTanksTanks + World War II

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a WWII Tank game?

Tanks + World War II

Of 29 developers who shipped a WWII Tank 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $410; 1 in 20 cleared $960k, ×1531 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 41 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 41 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tanks + World War II
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $12k → $480k → $2.5k → $14k → $1.0k → $5.4k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tanks + World War II: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $405 (exactly $405)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,158)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,840)
Top 5% $961k (exactly $961,308)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 161
Announced 41
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 flat on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
World War II
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
Tanks; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Wargame
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 5,454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $410, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $960k.

3 in 10 developers made under $410. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tanks with a different setting or mood, 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. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds18 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced
  10. + Action RTSPoor odds12 devs · median $4.0k · 19 announced
  11. + Real Time TacticsPoor odds22 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  12. + TacticalPoor odds49 devs · median $2.5k · 85 announced

All 71 pairs on the Tanks page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hell Let Loose older $49.99 99,628 83% 3.0M $149M (exactly $149,412,112) Expression Games
Company of Heroes 2 older $19.99 68,909 80% 2.1M $41M (exactly $41,324,727) Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Men of War: Assault Squad 2 older $29.99 35,744 91% 1.1M $32M (exactly $32,158,877) Digitalmindsoft
Call of Duty: World at War older $19.99 45,792 92% 1.4M $27M (exactly $27,461,462) Treyarch
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad with Rising Storm older $19.99 24,876 93% 746k $15M (exactly $14,918,137) Tripwire Interactive
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad older $49.99 8,749 79% 262k $13M (exactly $13,120,875) FOR-GAMES CR LTD
Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition older $49.99 5,691 86% 171k $8.5M (exactly $8,534,793) SEGA
Men of War II older $44.99 5,614 60% 168k $7.6M (exactly $7,577,216) Best Way
Sprocket · EA older $19.99 12,336 92% 370k $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) Hamish Dunn
Valkyria Chronicles™ older $19.99 10,832 89% 325k $6.5M (exactly $6,495,950) SEGA
Call to Arms: Panzer Elite · EA $29.99 1,927 69% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) Digitalmindsoft
Sudden Strike 5 $49.99 641 75% 19k $961k (exactly $961,308) Kite Games
KAISERPUNK $29.99 884 71% 27k $795k (exactly $795,335) Overseer Games
Tank Squad $19.99 847 70% 25k $508k (exactly $507,946) DeGenerals S.A.
Trench Lord: Eastern Front $11.99 774 83% 23k $278k (exactly $278,408) Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD.
Sherman Commander $29.99 117 64% 3.5k $105k (exactly $105,265) Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
Battlefield Commander WWII · EA $19.99 54 70% 1.6k $32k (exactly $32,384) Sword of Steel
Frontline: Assault Corps WW2 $14.99 33 75% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Frontline: Games Series
My Waifu Is A Tank Girl! 💕 $2.99 161 80% 4.8k $14k (exactly $14,442) Neko Cloud
D-Day VR Museum $14.99 16 100% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) Lichtblau IT

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