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Should I ship a WWII Wargame?
Wargame + World War II
Of 59 developers who shipped a WWII Wargame 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.. 99 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×4404 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 99 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 25% | $67k (exactly $67,462) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,765,447) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 322 |
| Announced | 99 |
| 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 up 235% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Wargame
- 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
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Wargame; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 42,248 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Wargame with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + LogicFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Company of Heroes 3 | older | $59.99 | 24,516 59% | 735k | $44M (exactly $44,121,445) | Relic Entertainment |
| | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
| | 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 |
| | Steel Division 2 | older | $39.99 | 8,061 79% | 242k | $9.7M (exactly $9,670,782) | Eugen Systems |
| | IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator | $19.99 | 13,278 97% | 398k | $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) | Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos | |
| | 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 |
| | Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts | older | $34.99 | 6,664 62% | 200k | $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) | Game-Labs |
| | Age of History 3 | $9.99 | 18,102 85% | 543k | $5.4M (exactly $5,425,169) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
| | Commandos: Origins | $49.99 | 1,844 79% | 55k | $2.8M (exactly $2,765,447) | Claymore Game Studios | |
| | 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 | |
| | Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand | $29.99 | 1,015 49% | 30k | $913k (exactly $913,196) | Relic Entertainment | |
| | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
| | Age of History 2: Definitive Edition | $9.99 | 2,600 83% | 78k | $779k (exactly $779,220) | Łukasz Jakowski | |
| | Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles | · EA | $39.99 | 633 87% | 19k | $759k (exactly $759,410) | Drydock Dreams Games |
| | Heroes of Valor | · EA | $14.99 | 1,324 90% | 40k | $595k (exactly $595,403) | Fancy Cat Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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