Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Flight

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Flight game?

Flight

Of 534 developers who shipped a Flight 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.. 867 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×266 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 867 games are announced against 301 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 55% on the market, 867 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Flight
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 534
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $716 → $897 → $1.3k → $360 → $539 → $416 → $449 (still earning) → $420 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Flight: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 534
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 5% $167k (exactly $167,316)
Developers, 2 yr 534
Released games 2,219
Announced 867
Effort 6 / 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 55% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Flight
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
Flight
Price point
$5.99 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 $5.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 129,382 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 286 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 867 games are announced against 301 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Flight

101 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Flight + Choose Your Own Adventure Fair $2.4k 9 devs
  2. Flight + Hidden Object Fair $1.3k 9 devs
  3. Flight + Quick-Time Events Fair $657 9 devs
  4. Flight + Life Sim Poor odds $70k 12 devs
  5. Flight + Trading Poor odds $36k 6 devs
  6. Flight + Mining Poor odds $35k 10 devs
  7. Flight + Crafting Poor odds $19k 14 devs
  8. Flight + Base Building Poor odds $17k 23 devs
  9. Flight + Economy Poor odds $15k 20 devs
  10. RTS + Flight Poor odds $15k 14 devs
  11. Flight + Building Poor odds $9.7k 26 devs
  12. Flight + Resource Management Poor odds $5.7k 24 devs
  13. Flight + Management Poor odds $5.5k 27 devs
  14. Online Co-Op + Flight Poor odds $5.0k 30 devs
  15. Flight + Sandbox Poor odds $3.9k 52 devs
  16. Co-op + Flight Poor odds $2.8k 45 devs
  17. Open World + Flight Poor odds $2.7k 87 devs
  18. Flight + Transportation Poor odds $2.7k 27 devs
  19. Looter Shooter + Flight Poor odds $2.1k 9 devs
  20. Flight + Walking Simulator Poor odds $2.1k 13 devs
  21. Flight + Roguelike Poor odds $1.8k 35 devs
  22. Flight + 6DOF Poor odds $1.8k 27 devs
  23. Automobile Sim + Flight Poor odds $1.7k 15 devs
  24. Immersive Sim + Flight Poor odds $1.5k 55 devs
  25. FPS + Flight Poor odds $1.5k 21 devs
  26. Flight + Exploration Poor odds $1.5k 127 devs
  27. Character Customization + Flight Poor odds $1.4k 52 devs
  28. Flight + Survival Poor odds $1.3k 28 devs
  29. Automation + Flight Poor odds $1.3k 8 devs
  30. Flight + Level Editor Poor odds $1.2k 13 devs
  31. Flight + On-Rails Shooter Poor odds $1.1k 18 devs
  32. Flight + Action Roguelike Poor odds $1.0k 31 devs
  33. Flight + Simulation Poor odds $1.0k 211 devs
  34. Flight + Sports Poor odds $1.0k 36 devs
  35. Flight + Time Management Poor odds $899 15 devs
  36. Flight + Logic Poor odds $899 12 devs
  37. Flight + Perma Death Poor odds $899 9 devs
  38. Driving + Flight Poor odds $898 32 devs
  39. Flight + Adventure Poor odds $839 144 devs
  40. Flight + Puzzle Platformer Poor odds $839 14 devs
  41. Flight + Wargame Poor odds $807 46 devs
  42. Flight + Tactical Poor odds $807 40 devs
  43. Flight + RPG Poor odds $629 48 devs
  44. Combat Racing + Flight Poor odds $600 20 devs
  45. Flight + Choices Matter Poor odds $599 19 devs
  46. Flight + Multiple Endings Poor odds $598 15 devs
  47. Flight + Vehicular Combat Poor odds $539 68 devs
  48. Destruction + Flight Poor odds $479 33 devs
  49. Action-Adventure + Flight Poor odds $450 80 devs
  50. PvP + Flight Poor odds $450 61 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition 2026 · $126M ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN 2019 · $83M The Crew™ 2 2018 · $78M Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 2024 · $45M Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition $59.99 70,073 78% 2.1M $126M (exactly $126,110,378) Asobo Studio
ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN older $59.99 46,235 87% 1.4M $83M (exactly $83,209,130) Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
The Crew™ 2 older $29.99 86,533 78% 2.6M $78M (exactly $77,853,740) Ivory Tower
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 $69.99 21,633 59% 649k $45M (exactly $45,422,810) Asobo Studio
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
X4: Foundations older $49.99 25,257 79% 758k $38M (exactly $37,877,923) Egosoft
Brick Rigs older $19.99 53,749 95% 1.6M $32M (exactly $32,233,275) Fluppisoft GmbH
Transport Fever 2 older $39.99 26,714 89% 801k $32M (exactly $32,048,786) Urban Games
STAR WARS™: Squadrons older $39.99 25,086 66% 753k $30M (exactly $30,095,674) MOTIVE
Trailmakers older $24.99 33,465 92% 1.0M $25M (exactly $25,088,710) Flashbulb
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
SpaceBourne 2 $19.99 4,951 75% 149k $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) Burak Dabak
Aviassembly · EA $9.99 9,323 96% 280k $2.8M (exactly $2,794,103) Jelle Booij
Cleared Hot · EA $17.99 3,934 96% 118k $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) Not Knowing Corporation
Ostranauts $19.99 3,137 77% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) Blue Bottle Games
Lost Skies $24.99 2,470 63% 74k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,759) Bossa Studios
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator $34.99 1,319 97% 40k $1.4M (exactly $1,384,554) Lyra Creative

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