Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic game?

Futuristic

Of 1,949 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 3,590 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $660, ×1.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×432 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 3,590 games are announced against 1,098 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 3,590 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,949
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.0k → $1.2k → $1.1k → $1.2k → $987 → $899 → $599 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,949
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $657 (exactly $657)
Top 25% $4.9k (exactly $4,940)
Top 5% $205k (exactly $205,149)
Developers, 2 yr 1,949
Released games 6,052
Announced 3,590
Effort 4 / 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 20% on the market, supply 25% 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.

Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
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 80% positive over 589,640 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $660, 1 in 4 over $4.9k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 1,100 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 3,590 games are announced against 1,098 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Futuristic

158 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Dating Sim + Futuristic Fair $5.4k 59 devs
  2. Programming + Futuristic Fair $1.2k 19 devs
  3. Idler + Futuristic Fair $898 92 devs
  4. Time Attack + Futuristic Fair $898 16 devs
  5. Typing + Futuristic Fair $719 14 devs
  6. Sokoban + Futuristic Long shot $179 21 devs
  7. Open World Survival Craft + Futuristic Poor odds $50k 7 devs
  8. Political Sim + Futuristic Poor odds $15k 16 devs
  9. Diplomacy + Futuristic Poor odds $9.0k 11 devs
  10. Turn-Based + Futuristic Poor odds $7.5k 13 devs
  11. FMV + Futuristic Poor odds $7.2k 12 devs
  12. Loot + Futuristic Poor odds $6.5k 29 devs
  13. JRPG + Futuristic Poor odds $6.3k 35 devs
  14. 4X + Futuristic Poor odds $6.3k 19 devs
  15. Souls-like + Futuristic Poor odds $5.2k 24 devs
  16. Colony Sim + Futuristic Poor odds $5.1k 43 devs
  17. Crafting + Futuristic Poor odds $3.8k 82 devs
  18. On-Rails Shooter + Futuristic Poor odds $3.2k 18 devs
  19. Co-op + Futuristic Poor odds $3.1k 106 devs
  20. Online Co-Op + Futuristic Poor odds $3.1k 82 devs
  21. Tactical RPG + Futuristic Poor odds $3.0k 29 devs
  22. Grand Strategy + Futuristic Poor odds $3.0k 24 devs
  23. Visual Novel + Futuristic Poor odds $2.8k 154 devs
  24. City Builder + Futuristic Poor odds $2.7k 50 devs
  25. Survival Horror + Futuristic Poor odds $2.7k 46 devs
  26. Building + Futuristic Poor odds $2.4k 133 devs
  27. Base Building + Futuristic Poor odds $2.4k 115 devs
  28. Choose Your Own Adventure + Futuristic Poor odds $2.4k 98 devs
  29. Hack and Slash + Futuristic Poor odds $2.4k 71 devs
  30. Life Sim + Futuristic Poor odds $2.3k 41 devs
  31. Metroidvania + Futuristic Poor odds $2.2k 40 devs
  32. Combat Racing + Futuristic Poor odds $2.2k 31 devs
  33. Stealth + Futuristic Poor odds $2.2k 47 devs
  34. FPS + Futuristic Poor odds $2.1k 171 devs
  35. Turn-Based Strategy + Futuristic Poor odds $1.9k 84 devs
  36. Deckbuilding + Futuristic Poor odds $1.9k 55 devs
  37. Spectacle fighter + Futuristic Poor odds $1.9k 28 devs
  38. Sandbox + Futuristic Poor odds $1.8k 100 devs
  39. Co-op Campaign + Futuristic Poor odds $1.8k 16 devs
  40. Dungeon Crawler + Futuristic Poor odds $1.8k 41 devs
  41. 6DOF + Futuristic Poor odds $1.8k 27 devs
  42. Interactive Fiction + Futuristic Poor odds $1.8k 105 devs
  43. Mining + Futuristic Poor odds $1.7k 37 devs
  44. Management + Futuristic Poor odds $1.7k 159 devs
  45. Economy + Futuristic Poor odds $1.6k 88 devs
  46. Wargame + Futuristic Poor odds $1.6k 56 devs
  47. Local Co-Op + Futuristic Poor odds $1.6k 46 devs
  48. Resource Management + Futuristic Poor odds $1.5k 164 devs
  49. Automation + Futuristic Poor odds $1.5k 70 devs
  50. Exploration + Futuristic Poor odds $1.4k 398 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B Battlefield™ 2042 2021 · $468M ARC Raiders 2025 · $359M Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 2024 · $303M Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyberpunk 2077 older $59.99 883,400 87% 27M $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) CD PROJEKT RED
Battlefield™ 2042 older $59.99 260,308 49% 7.8M $468M (exactly $468,476,308) DICE
ARC Raiders $39.99 299,346 82% 9.0M $359M (exactly $359,125,396) Embark Studios
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 older $59.99 168,628 84% 5.1M $303M (exactly $303,479,812) Saber Interactive
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III older $59.99 157,694 88% 4.7M $284M (exactly $283,801,892) Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac)
Detroit: Become Human older $39.99 226,411 96% 6.8M $272M (exactly $271,625,277) Quantic Dream
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
Stellaris older $49.99 139,718 85% 4.2M $210M (exactly $209,535,085) Paradox Development Studio
Half-Life: Alyx older $59.99 93,001 98% 2.8M $167M (exactly $167,373,900) Valve
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
PRAGMATA $59.99 32,885 96% 987k $59M (exactly $59,183,134) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
REMATCH $29.99 39,905 70% 1.2M $36M (exactly $35,902,528) Sloclap
Killing Floor 3 $39.99 16,493 46% 495k $20M (exactly $19,786,652) Tripwire Interactive
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Cronos: The New Dawn $59.99 7,753 87% 233k $14M (exactly $13,953,074) Bloober Team
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games

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