Should I ship a Modern-Day game?
Modern
Of 887 developers who shipped a Modern-Day 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.. 1,243 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×818 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 1,243 games are announced against 523 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $13,941) |
| Top 5% | $389k (exactly $388,606) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 887 |
| Released games | 2,656 |
| Announced | 1,243 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Modern
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
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
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 680,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 514 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,243 games are announced against 523 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
All pairs with Modern
- Shooter + Modern Poor odds $898
- Card Battler + Modern Poor odds $897
- Tactical RPG + Modern Poor odds $684
- Roguelike + Modern Poor odds $628
- Tabletop + Modern Poor odds $600
- 2D Platformer + Modern Poor odds $599
- Survival + Modern Poor odds $599
- Procedural Generation + Modern Poor odds $599
- Action Roguelike + Modern Poor odds $599
- Perma Death + Modern Poor odds $598
- Puzzle Platformer + Modern Poor odds $539
- CRPG + Modern Poor odds $538
- Board Game + Modern Poor odds $330
- Word Game + Modern Poor odds $150
- Battle Royale + Modern Dead $548k
- Sniper + Modern Dead $17k
- Combat Racing + Modern Dead $11k
- 2D Fighter + Modern Dead $9.3k
- Bullet Time + Modern Dead $719
- 3D Platformer + Modern Dead $479
- Arcade + Modern Dead $386
- Grid-Based Movement + Modern Dead $359
- Platformer + Modern Dead $299
- Arena Shooter + Modern Dead $239
- Runner + Modern Dead $238
- Solitaire + Modern Dead $210
Comparable games
Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M 
Battlefield™ 2042 2021 · $468M 
Ready or Not 2023 · $398M 
Resident Evil Requiem 2026 · $225M 
Squad 2020 · $217M | 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 |
| | Ready or Not | older | $49.99 | 265,219 79% | 8.0M | $398M (exactly $397,748,934) | VOID Interactive |
| | Resident Evil Requiem | $69.99 | 106,931 95% | 3.2M | $225M (exactly $224,523,021) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Squad | older | $39.99 | 180,505 82% | 5.4M | $217M (exactly $216,551,848) | Offworld |
 | EA SPORTS FC™ 26 | $69.99 | 99,773 50% | 3.0M | $209M (exactly $209,493,368) | EA Canada, EA Romania | |
 | Cities: Skylines | older | $29.99 | 220,465 92% | 6.6M | $198M (exactly $198,352,360) | Colossal Order |
 | Gray Zone Warfare | · EA older | $39.99 | 69,146 72% | 2.1M | $83M (exactly $82,954,456) | MADFINGER Games, a.s. |
 | Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® | older | $59.99 | 43,229 79% | 1.3M | $78M (exactly $77,799,231) | Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studio… (Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Raven Software) |
 | WARDOGS | · EA | $39.99 | 58,250 81% | 1.7M | $70M (exactly $69,882,525) | BULKHEAD |
 | Broken Arrow | $49.99 | 25,924 55% | 778k | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) | Steel Balalaika | |
 | inZOI | · EA | $39.99 | 30,020 77% | 901k | $36M (exactly $36,014,994) | inZOI Studio |
 | Digimon Story Time Stranger | $69.99 | 15,845 89% | 475k | $33M (exactly $33,269,746) | Media.Vision Inc. | |
 | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
 | Rhythm Doctor | $19.99 | 25,021 98% | 751k | $15M (exactly $15,005,094) | 7th Beat Games | |
 | Tempest Rising | $39.99 | 9,811 87% | 294k | $12M (exactly $11,770,257) | Slipgate Ironworks™ |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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