Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Destruction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Destruction game?

Destruction

Of 506 developers who shipped a Destruction 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.. 1,115 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×1001 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 1,115 games are announced against 313 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 1,115 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 506
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $1.2k → $1.8k → $1.8k → $2.1k → $1.2k → $719 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 506
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,795)
Top 5% $628k (exactly $628,486)
Developers, 2 yr 506
Released games 1,691
Announced 1,115
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 down 30% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Destruction
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
Destruction
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 430,048 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $620k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 242 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,115 games are announced against 313 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Destruction

107 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Destruction + Space Sim Fair $3.7k 14 devs
  2. Destruction + God Game Fair $899 19 devs
  3. Destruction + Hidden Object Fair $719 9 devs
  4. Destruction + Hack and Slash Poor odds $43k 19 devs
  5. Online Co-Op + Destruction Poor odds $13k 37 devs
  6. Co-op + Destruction Poor odds $11k 50 devs
  7. Automobile Sim + Destruction Poor odds $9.0k 22 devs
  8. Destruction + Management Poor odds $6.1k 36 devs
  9. Automation + Destruction Poor odds $6.0k 22 devs
  10. Destruction + Crafting Poor odds $4.9k 36 devs
  11. Destruction + Gun Customization Poor odds $4.5k 12 devs
  12. Destruction + Mining Poor odds $4.2k 41 devs
  13. Destruction + Life Sim Poor odds $3.7k 10 devs
  14. Destruction + Beat 'em up Poor odds $3.6k 22 devs
  15. Destruction + Twin Stick Shooter Poor odds $3.0k 19 devs
  16. Destruction + Parkour Poor odds $2.9k 10 devs
  17. Destruction + Simulation Poor odds $2.8k 140 devs
  18. Destruction + Sandbox Poor odds $2.7k 102 devs
  19. Open World + Destruction Poor odds $2.7k 53 devs
  20. Destruction + Tactical Poor odds $2.6k 41 devs
  21. Destruction + Base Building Poor odds $2.6k 32 devs
  22. PvP + Destruction Poor odds $2.5k 68 devs
  23. RTS + Destruction Poor odds $2.5k 24 devs
  24. Destruction + Procedural Generation Poor odds $2.5k 46 devs
  25. Destruction + Exploration Poor odds $2.4k 88 devs
  26. Destruction + Walking Simulator Poor odds $2.4k 8 devs
  27. Destruction + Strategy Poor odds $2.4k 101 devs
  28. Destruction + Building Poor odds $2.4k 76 devs
  29. Destruction + Roguelite Poor odds $2.4k 55 devs
  30. Destruction + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $2.4k 10 devs
  31. Destruction + Level Editor Poor odds $2.3k 19 devs
  32. Destruction + Incremental Poor odds $2.2k 50 devs
  33. Destruction + Action Roguelike Poor odds $2.1k 61 devs
  34. Destruction + Economy Poor odds $2.0k 24 devs
  35. Destruction + Wargame Poor odds $1.9k 32 devs
  36. Destruction + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.9k 12 devs
  37. Destruction + Physics Poor odds $1.8k 180 devs
  38. Destruction + Party Game Poor odds $1.8k 13 devs
  39. FPS + Destruction Poor odds $1.7k 58 devs
  40. Destruction + Boomer Shooter Poor odds $1.7k 19 devs
  41. Third-Person Shooter + Destruction Poor odds $1.7k 32 devs
  42. Destruction + Roguelike Poor odds $1.6k 49 devs
  43. Action RTS + Destruction Poor odds $1.6k 10 devs
  44. Immersive Sim + Destruction Poor odds $1.6k 30 devs
  45. Destruction + Survival Horror Poor odds $1.6k 13 devs
  46. Destruction + Driving Poor odds $1.5k 55 devs
  47. Combat Racing + Destruction Poor odds $1.5k 32 devs
  48. Destruction + Vehicular Combat Poor odds $1.3k 51 devs
  49. Destruction + Racing Poor odds $1.3k 46 devs
  50. Destruction + Idler Poor odds $1.3k 34 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M Battlefield™ 2042 2021 · $468M Battlefield™ V 2020 · $355M BeamNG.drive 2015 · EA · $291M Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Battlefield™ 6 $69.99 295,442 63% 8.9M $620M (exactly $620,339,567) Battlefield Studios
Battlefield™ 2042 older $59.99 260,308 49% 7.8M $468M (exactly $468,476,308) DICE
Battlefield™ V older $49.99 236,709 70% 7.1M $355M (exactly $354,992,487) DICE
BeamNG.drive · EA older $24.99 388,236 97% 12M $291M (exactly $291,060,529) BeamNG
Need for Speed™ Heat older $69.99 128,933 84% 3.9M $271M (exactly $270,720,620) Ghost Games
Battlefield™ 1 older $39.99 200,661 86% 6.0M $241M (exactly $240,733,002) DICE
Teardown older $29.99 126,563 95% 3.8M $114M (exactly $113,868,731) Tuxedo Labs
People Playground older $9.99 298,158 98% 8.9M $89M (exactly $89,357,953) mestiez
Battlefield 4™ older $39.99 69,373 84% 2.1M $83M (exactly $83,226,788) DICE
Total War: THREE KINGDOMS older $39.99 63,110 82% 1.9M $76M (exactly $75,713,067) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
WARDOGS · EA $39.99 58,250 81% 1.7M $70M (exactly $69,882,525) BULKHEAD
RoadCraft $39.99 13,527 74% 406k $16M (exactly $16,228,342) Saber Interactive
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades $19.99 22,774 97% 683k $14M (exactly $13,657,568) RUST LTD.
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition $39.99 5,855 86% 176k $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Wreckfest 2 · EA $34.99 5,578 73% 167k $5.9M (exactly $5,855,227) Bugbear
Echo Point Nova $24.99 7,521 96% 226k $5.6M (exactly $5,638,494) Greylock Studio
Space Engineers 2 · EA $29.99 5,095 74% 153k $4.6M (exactly $4,583,972) Keen Software House
Over The Top: WWI $19.14 6,683 84% 200k $3.8M (exactly $3,837,379) Flying Squirrel Entertainment
Aviassembly · EA $9.99 9,323 96% 280k $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) Jelle Booij

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