Should I ship a Combat game?
Combat
Of 5,216 developers who shipped a Combat 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.. 10,710 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×661 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 10,710 games are announced against 3,084 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $415k (exactly $414,992) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 5,216 |
| Released games | 14,360 |
| Announced | 10,710 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,163,472 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 2,878 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10,710 games are announced against 3,084 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
All pairs with Combat
- Base Building + Combat Poor odds $1.9k
- Co-op Campaign + Combat Poor odds $1.8k
- Combat + Level Editor Poor odds $1.8k
- Combat + Bullet Heaven Poor odds $1.8k
- Stealth + Combat Poor odds $1.8k
- Driving + Combat Poor odds $1.7k
- Agriculture + Combat Poor odds $1.7k
- RTS + Combat Poor odds $1.6k
- Combat + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.6k
- Combat + Resource Management Poor odds $1.6k
- Combat + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.6k
- Combat + Exploration Poor odds $1.5k
- Action RPG + Combat Poor odds $1.5k
- Combat + Dungeon Crawler Poor odds $1.5k
- Building + Combat Poor odds $1.5k
- Combat + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $1.5k
- Combat + Simulation Poor odds $1.5k
- Combat + Time Management Poor odds $1.5k
- Automobile Sim + Combat Poor odds $1.5k
- Combat + Inventory Management Poor odds $1.4k
- Combat + Hack and Slash Poor odds $1.4k
- RPG + Combat Poor odds $1.4k
- Spectacle fighter + Combat Poor odds $1.3k
- Action RTS + Combat Poor odds $1.3k
- Open World + Combat Poor odds $1.3k
- Combat + Procedural Generation Poor odds $1.3k
- Combat + Local Co-Op Poor odds $1.3k
- Combat + Incremental Poor odds $1.3k
- Character Customization + Combat Poor odds $1.2k
- Combat + Wargame Poor odds $1.2k
- Boomer Shooter + Combat Poor odds $1.2k
- Combat + Creature Collector Poor odds $1.2k
- Combat + Life Sim Poor odds $1.1k
- Gun Customization + Combat Poor odds $1.1k
- Combat + Word Game Poor odds $1.1k
- Combat + Deckbuilding Poor odds $1.0k
- Combat + Investigation Poor odds $959
- Swordplay + Combat Poor odds $958
- Vehicular Combat + Combat Poor odds $958
- Destruction + Combat Poor odds $958
- Combat + Adventure Poor odds $899
- Combat + Roguelite Poor odds $899
- FPS + Combat Poor odds $899
- Combat + Tactical RPG Poor odds $899
- Combat + Grid-Based Movement Poor odds $899
- Space Sim + Combat Poor odds $899
- Combat Racing + Combat Poor odds $899
- Hunting + Combat Poor odds $899
- Sniper + Combat Poor odds $899
- Combat + Minigames Poor odds $899
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Black Myth: Wukong | older | $59.99 | 881,186 96% | 26M | $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) | Game Science |
| | Baldur's Gate 3 | older | $59.99 | 755,010 96% | 23M | $1.4B (exactly $1,358,791,497) | Larian Studios |
| | Battlefield™ 6 | $69.99 | 295,442 63% | 8.9M | $620M (exactly $620,339,567) | Battlefield Studios | |
| | Hogwarts Legacy | older | $59.99 | 274,801 89% | 8.2M | $495M (exactly $494,559,360) | Avalanche Software |
| | Battlefield™ 2042 | older | $59.99 | 260,308 49% | 7.8M | $468M (exactly $468,476,308) | DICE |
| | Ready or Not | older | $49.99 | 265,219 79% | 8.0M | $398M (exactly $397,748,934) | VOID Interactive |
| | ARC Raiders | $39.99 | 299,346 82% | 9.0M | $359M (exactly $359,125,396) | Embark Studios | |
| | Battlefield™ V | older | $49.99 | 236,709 70% | 7.1M | $355M (exactly $354,992,487) | DICE |
| | Far Cry® 5 | older | $59.99 | 172,897 81% | 5.2M | $311M (exactly $311,162,731) | Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Sh… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Kiev) |
| | Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition | older | $59.99 | 164,914 79% | 4.9M | $297M (exactly $296,795,726) | Techland |
| | Kingdom Come: Deliverance II | $59.99 | 144,558 93% | 4.3M | $260M (exactly $260,161,033) | Warhorse Studios | |
| | Crimson Desert Enhanced | $69.99 | 115,056 83% | 3.5M | $242M (exactly $241,583,083) | Pearl Abyss | |
| | Stellar Blade™ | $59.99 | 61,289 93% | 1.8M | $110M (exactly $110,301,813) | SHIFT UP Corporation | |
| | Dying Light: The Beast | $59.99 | 59,318 87% | 1.8M | $107M (exactly $106,754,605) | Techland | |
| | DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO | $49.99 | 50,395 86% | 1.5M | $76M (exactly $75,577,382) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. | |
| | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | $69.99 | 34,953 75% | 1.0M | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) | Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine) | |
| | WARDOGS | · EA | $39.99 | 58,250 81% | 1.7M | $70M (exactly $69,882,525) | BULKHEAD |
| | WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers | $49.99 | 44,865 58% | 1.3M | $67M (exactly $67,284,040) | Leenzee |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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