Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech game?

Mechs

Of 270 developers who shipped a Mech 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.. 477 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1953 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 477 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 477 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 270
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.1k → $3.4k → $10k → $3.6k → $2.5k → $7.5k → $2.6k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 270
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $2.6k (exactly $2,634)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $48,816)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332)
Developers, 2 yr 270
Released games 901
Announced 477
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 20% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Mechs
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
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 108,454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $2.6k, 1 in 4 over $48k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 146 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 477 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Mechs

70 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Tanks + Mechs Poor odds $1.3k 20 devs
  2. PvE + Mechs Poor odds $1.3k 52 devs
  3. Simulation + Mechs Poor odds $1.3k 45 devs
  4. Flight + Mechs Poor odds $1.2k 11 devs
  5. Top-Down Shooter + Mechs Poor odds $1.1k 42 devs
  6. Base Building + Mechs Poor odds $989 15 devs
  7. RPG + Mechs Poor odds $899 63 devs
  8. Arena Shooter + Mechs Poor odds $899 18 devs
  9. Destruction + Mechs Poor odds $807 17 devs
  10. 3D Platformer + Mechs Poor odds $629 20 devs
  11. Visual Novel + Mechs Poor odds $300 22 devs
  12. Management + Mechs Poor odds $300 16 devs
  13. Beat 'em up + Mechs Dead $246k 7 devs
  14. Spectacle fighter + Mechs Dead $20k 9 devs
  15. Strategy RPG + Mechs Dead $17k 10 devs
  16. Twin Stick Shooter + Mechs Dead $7.9k 15 devs
  17. Local Co-Op + Mechs Dead $7.9k 5 devs
  18. Dating Sim + Mechs Dead $300 16 devs
  19. Puzzle + Mechs Dead $270 12 devs
  20. Interactive Fiction + Mechs Dead $0 18 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Titanfall® 2 2020 · $229M ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ 2023 · $121M METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M DOOM: The Dark Ages 2025 · $48M BATTLETECH 2018 · $28M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ older $59.99 66,987 91% 2.0M $121M (exactly $120,556,504) FromSoftware, Inc.
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE older $29.99 69,104 96% 2.1M $62M (exactly $62,172,869) PlatinumGames
DOOM: The Dark Ages $49.99 32,209 88% 966k $48M (exactly $48,303,837) id Software
BATTLETECH older $39.99 23,024 84% 691k $28M (exactly $27,621,893) Harebrained Schemes
Generation Zero® older $24.99 29,115 75% 873k $22M (exactly $21,827,516) Systemic Reaction™
The Forever Winter · EA $29.99 21,376 68% 641k $19M (exactly $19,231,987) Fun Dog Studios
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition older $39.99 11,103 64% 333k $13M (exactly $13,320,269) Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software
Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered $49.99 6,860 84% 206k $10M (exactly $10,287,942) Guerrilla Games, Nixxes Software
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
MechWarrior 5: Clans $29.99 5,565 74% 167k $5.0M (exactly $5,006,830) Piranha Games Inc.
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada $39.99 3,303 40% 99k $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) Game Studio Inc.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
StarVaders $24.99 3,760 97% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) Pengonauts

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