Do I ship it?

GamesSettingsSpaceships

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Spaceship game?

Spaceships

Of 87 developers who shipped a Spaceship 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.. 102 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 102 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 102 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Spaceships
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 87
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $119 → $299 → $3.6k → $479 → $1.5k → $6.0k → $267 (still earning) → $3.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Spaceships: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 87
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,887)
Top 5% $664k (exactly $664,468)
Developers, 2 yr 87
Released games 246
Announced 102
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 25% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Spaceships
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 23,905 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $900, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $660k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 102 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Spaceships

25 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Exploration + Spaceships Fair $3.5k 22 devs
  2. Roguelike + Spaceships Poor odds $33k 14 devs
  3. Roguelite + Spaceships Poor odds $11k 14 devs
  4. PvE + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 16 devs
  5. Building + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 14 devs
  6. Strategy + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 28 devs
  7. Procedural Generation + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 16 devs
  8. Tactical + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 7 devs
  9. Physics + Spaceships Poor odds $4.0k 12 devs
  10. Adventure + Spaceships Poor odds $3.5k 26 devs
  11. Sandbox + Spaceships Poor odds $1.8k 11 devs
  12. Open World + Spaceships Poor odds $1.8k 9 devs
  13. Space Sim + Spaceships Poor odds $1.6k 28 devs
  14. Simulation + Spaceships Poor odds $1.5k 28 devs
  15. Shooter + Spaceships Poor odds $1.5k 25 devs
  16. Flight + Spaceships Poor odds $1.2k 16 devs
  17. Action + Spaceships Poor odds $300 49 devs
  18. Action Roguelike + Spaceships Poor odds $300 11 devs
  19. RPG + Spaceships Dead $115k 11 devs
  20. Arcade + Spaceships Dead $300 32 devs
  21. Bullet Hell + Spaceships Dead $239 22 devs
  22. Top-Down Shooter + Spaceships Dead $239 21 devs
  23. Shoot 'Em Up + Spaceships Dead $239 19 devs
  24. Combat + Spaceships Dead $150 31 devs
  25. Score Attack + Spaceships Dead $89 9 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
STAR WARS™: Squadrons older $39.99 25,086 66% 753k $30M (exactly $30,095,674) MOTIVE
Avorion older $24.99 13,001 90% 390k $9.7M (exactly $9,746,850) Boxelware
Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander · EA older $19.99 12,013 94% 360k $7.2M (exactly $7,204,196) Walternate Realities
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 older $19.99 9,701 74% 291k $5.8M (exactly $5,817,690) Tindalos Interactive
Wildgate $29.99 5,032 77% 151k $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) Moonshot Games
Spaceflight Simulator · EA older $14.99 9,431 96% 283k $4.2M (exactly $4,241,121) Team Curiosity ✦
Starpoint Gemini Warlords older $34.99 3,076 72% 92k $3.2M (exactly $3,228,877) Little Green Men Games
Starpoint Gemini 2 older $34.99 3,021 70% 91k $3.2M (exactly $3,171,144) Little Green Men Games
Chorus older $24.99 3,876 81% 116k $2.9M (exactly $2,905,837) Deep Silver Fishlabs
Ostranauts $19.99 3,137 77% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) Blue Bottle Games
Starminer · EA $29.99 1,818 72% 55k $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) CoolAndGoodGames
Uncle Chop's Rocket Shop $19.99 1,108 84% 33k $664k (exactly $664,468) Beard Envy
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder $11.99 744 69% 22k $268k (exactly $267,617) Tinymice Entertainment
Starless Abyss $19.99 296 83% 8.9k $178k (exactly $177,511) Konafa Games
BattleGroupVR2 · EA $24.99 209 85% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) SpaceOwl Games
Star Vortex · EA $24.99 154 84% 4.6k $115k (exactly $115,454) Zorg Games

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