Do I ship it?

Games › Settings › Steampunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Steampunk game?

Steampunk

Of 195 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 454 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×588 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 454 games are announced against 106 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 454 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Steampunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 195
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $13k → $1.6k → $1.6k → $3.7k → $3.1k → $2.6k (still earning) → $629 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Steampunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 195
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,098)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,103)
Top 5% $369k (exactly $369,415)
Developers, 2 yr 195
Released games 729
Announced 454
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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Steampunk
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 $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 55,883 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 $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 103 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 454 games are announced against 106 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Steampunk

65 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Loot + Steampunk Strong odds $2.2k 7 devs
  2. Card Game + Steampunk Fair $7.6k 15 devs
  3. Turn-Based Strategy + Steampunk Fair $1.5k 25 devs
  4. Survival + Steampunk Poor odds $78k 10 devs
  5. Sandbox + Steampunk Poor odds $52k 8 devs
  6. Tactical + Steampunk Poor odds $13k 13 devs
  7. Roguelite + Steampunk Poor odds $8.3k 29 devs
  8. Hack and Slash + Steampunk Poor odds $8.3k 9 devs
  9. Simulation + Steampunk Poor odds $7.9k 30 devs
  10. Building + Steampunk Poor odds $7.9k 11 devs
  11. Roguelike + Steampunk Poor odds $7.6k 40 devs
  12. Crafting + Steampunk Poor odds $6.0k 14 devs
  13. Flight + Steampunk Poor odds $6.0k 7 devs
  14. Action RPG + Steampunk Poor odds $6.0k 19 devs
  15. Point & Click + Steampunk Poor odds $5.5k 20 devs
  16. Turn-Based Tactics + Steampunk Poor odds $5.0k 23 devs
  17. Action Roguelike + Steampunk Poor odds $4.7k 26 devs
  18. Perma Death + Steampunk Poor odds $4.7k 7 devs
  19. Strategy + Steampunk Poor odds $4.2k 58 devs
  20. RPG + Steampunk Poor odds $4.2k 55 devs
  21. Platformer + Steampunk Poor odds $4.0k 22 devs
  22. 2D Platformer + Steampunk Poor odds $4.0k 16 devs
  23. Interactive Fiction + Steampunk Poor odds $3.7k 19 devs
  24. FPS + Steampunk Poor odds $3.7k 12 devs
  25. Exploration + Steampunk Poor odds $3.6k 48 devs
  26. PvP + Steampunk Poor odds $3.6k 19 devs
  27. Adventure + Steampunk Poor odds $3.0k 85 devs
  28. Multiple Endings + Steampunk Poor odds $3.0k 30 devs
  29. Turn-Based Combat + Steampunk Poor odds $3.0k 24 devs
  30. Visual Novel + Steampunk Poor odds $3.0k 21 devs
  31. Choose Your Own Adventure + Steampunk Poor odds $3.0k 12 devs
  32. Shooter + Steampunk Poor odds $2.9k 22 devs
  33. Action + Steampunk Poor odds $2.6k 79 devs
  34. Bullet Hell + Steampunk Poor odds $2.2k 16 devs
  35. Logic + Steampunk Poor odds $2.1k 10 devs
  36. Character Customization + Steampunk Poor odds $2.1k 21 devs
  37. Board Game + Steampunk Poor odds $2.1k 9 devs
  38. Resource Management + Steampunk Poor odds $1.9k 19 devs
  39. Management + Steampunk Poor odds $1.9k 17 devs
  40. Deckbuilding + Steampunk Poor odds $1.8k 14 devs
  41. Puzzle + Steampunk Poor odds $1.7k 40 devs
  42. Investigation + Steampunk Poor odds $1.7k 13 devs
  43. Action-Adventure + Steampunk Poor odds $1.7k 27 devs
  44. 3D Platformer + Steampunk Poor odds $1.7k 10 devs
  45. Base Building + Steampunk Poor odds $1.5k 15 devs
  46. Tower Defense + Steampunk Poor odds $1.5k 8 devs
  47. Choices Matter + Steampunk Poor odds $1.5k 34 devs
  48. Arcade + Steampunk Poor odds $959 29 devs
  49. Physics + Steampunk Poor odds $899 16 devs
  50. Combat + Steampunk Poor odds $838 40 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lies of P 2023 · $105M Frostpunk 2018 · $103M BioShock Infinite 2013 · $99M They Are Billions 2019 · $42M Dishonored 2 2016 · $39M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lies of P older $59.99 58,411 91% 1.8M $105M (exactly $105,122,277) NEOWIZ
Frostpunk older $29.99 114,376 92% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,904,087) 11 bit studios
BioShock Infinite older $29.99 109,718 93% 3.3M $99M (exactly $98,713,285) Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (… (Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (Linux))
They Are Billions older $29.99 46,223 85% 1.4M $42M (exactly $41,586,833) Numantian Games
Dishonored 2 older $29.99 42,988 90% 1.3M $39M (exactly $38,676,304) Arkane Studios
BioShock™ Remastered older $19.99 52,500 83% 1.6M $31M (exactly $31,484,250) 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel… (2K Boston, 2K Australia, Blind Squirrel, Feral Interactive (Mac))
Frostpunk 2 $44.99 20,872 74% 626k $28M (exactly $28,170,938) 11 bit studios
Assassin's Creed® Syndicate older $29.99 31,087 80% 933k $28M (exactly $27,968,974) Ubisoft Quebec, in collaboration with U… (Ubisoft Quebec, in collaboration with Ubisoft Annecy, Bucharest, Kiev, Montreal, Montpellier, Shanghai, Singapore, Sofia, Toronto studios)
Dishonored older $9.99 67,504 97% 2.0M $20M (exactly $20,230,949) Arkane Studios
Torchlight II older $19.99 33,094 92% 993k $20M (exactly $19,846,472) Runic Games
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator $19.99 13,278 97% 398k $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos
Abyssus $24.99 5,014 84% 150k $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) DoubleMoose Games
Syberia - Remastered $29.99 724 70% 22k $651k (exactly $651,383) Virtuallyz Gaming, Microids Studio Paris
Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy $39.99 526 90% 16k $631k (exactly $631,042) Microids Studio Paris
Kristala $39.99 485 71% 15k $582k (exactly $581,854) Astral Clocktower Studios
FrostBound $14.99 1,196 82% 36k $538k (exactly $537,841) Lyra Studio
New Arc Line · EA $24.99 687 68% 21k $515k (exactly $515,044) Dreamate
Ratten Reich $19.99 616 40% 18k $369k (exactly $369,415) METALLADLERSTUDIO

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