Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Tactical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tactical game?

Tactical

Of 2,158 developers who shipped a Tactical 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.. 3,900 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $570k, ×922 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 3,900 games are announced against 1,310 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 3,900 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,158
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.4k → $1.8k → $1.6k → $1.5k → $1.3k → $898 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,158
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,015)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,389)
Top 5% $579k (exactly $578,768)
Developers, 2 yr 2,158
Released games 6,593
Announced 3,900
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.49

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 30% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Tactical
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
Systems
Tactical
Price point
$7.49 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $7.49.

The top 10 games average 67% positive over 599,755 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $570k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 1,101 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 3,900 games are announced against 1,310 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Tactical

62 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Tactical + Dwarves Fair $1.0k 7 devs
  2. Tactical + LGBTQ+ Fair $479 20 devs
  3. Tactical + World War I Poor odds $334k 13 devs
  4. Tactical + Rome Poor odds $26k 10 devs
  5. Tactical + Cold War Poor odds $15k 23 devs
  6. Tactical + World War II Poor odds $15k 44 devs
  7. Tactical + Mechs Poor odds $14k 42 devs
  8. Tactical + Steampunk Poor odds $13k 13 devs
  9. Tactical + Historical Poor odds $9.9k 159 devs
  10. Tactical + Alternate History Poor odds $9.3k 51 devs
  11. Tactical + Spaceships Poor odds $6.3k 7 devs
  12. Tactical + Noir Poor odds $4.2k 16 devs
  13. Tactical + Military Poor odds $4.0k 312 devs
  14. Tactical + Dragons Poor odds $3.7k 25 devs
  15. Tactical + Female Protagonist Poor odds $3.1k 87 devs
  16. Tactical + War Poor odds $3.0k 371 devs
  17. Tactical + Modern Poor odds $2.9k 74 devs
  18. Tactical + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $2.4k 84 devs
  19. Tactical + Romance Poor odds $2.2k 11 devs
  20. Tactical + Mythology Poor odds $2.2k 41 devs
  21. Tactical + Western Poor odds $2.1k 9 devs
  22. Tactical + Psychological Horror Poor odds $2.1k 43 devs
  23. Tactical + Demons Poor odds $2.0k 26 devs
  24. Tactical + Capitalism Poor odds $1.9k 43 devs
  25. Tactical + Dystopian Poor odds $1.7k 46 devs
  26. Tactical + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $1.7k 159 devs
  27. Tactical + Medieval Poor odds $1.6k 273 devs
  28. Tactical + Aliens Poor odds $1.4k 70 devs
  29. Tactical + Robots Poor odds $1.4k 67 devs
  30. Tactical + Fantasy Poor odds $1.4k 555 devs
  31. Tactical + Magic Poor odds $1.3k 223 devs
  32. Tactical + Underwater Poor odds $1.2k 10 devs
  33. Tactical + Pirates Poor odds $1.2k 23 devs
  34. Tactical + Horror Poor odds $1.1k 105 devs
  35. Tactical + Cyberpunk Poor odds $1.0k 62 devs
  36. Tactical + Space Poor odds $1.0k 168 devs
  37. Tactical + Sci-fi Poor odds $959 331 devs
  38. Tactical + Naval Poor odds $955 35 devs
  39. Tactical + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $899 84 devs
  40. Tactical + Thriller Poor odds $718 32 devs
  41. Tactical + Crime Poor odds $718 24 devs
  42. Tactical + Heist Poor odds $718 14 devs
  43. Tactical + Underground Poor odds $674 12 devs
  44. Tactical + Detective Poor odds $629 23 devs
  45. Tactical + Hacking Poor odds $629 18 devs
  46. Tactical + Zombies Poor odds $540 84 devs
  47. Tactical + Futuristic Poor odds $539 144 devs
  48. Tactical + Psychological Poor odds $539 24 devs
  49. Tactical + Cats Poor odds $539 21 devs
  50. Tactical + Assassins Poor odds $480 18 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Battlefield™ 6 2025 · $620M Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M Ready or Not 2023 · $398M
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
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI older $59.99 276,113 86% 8.3M $497M (exactly $496,920,566) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Hearts of Iron IV older $49.99 274,901 90% 8.2M $412M (exactly $412,269,030) Paradox Development Studio
Phasmophobia · EA older $19.99 684,009 94% 21M $410M (exactly $410,200,197) Kinetic Games
Ready or Not older $49.99 265,219 79% 8.0M $398M (exactly $397,748,934) VOID Interactive
Left 4 Dead 2 older $9.99 816,316 97% 24M $245M (exactly $244,649,905) Valve
Squad older $39.99 180,505 82% 5.4M $217M (exactly $216,551,848) Offworld
Arma 3 older $29.99 228,910 90% 6.9M $206M (exactly $205,950,327) Bohemia Interactive
Hunt: Showdown 1896 older $29.99 213,023 74% 6.4M $192M (exactly $191,656,793) Crytek
Total War: WARHAMMER III older $59.99 104,822 71% 3.1M $189M (exactly $188,648,153) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis Games
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
WARDOGS · EA $39.99 58,250 81% 1.7M $70M (exactly $69,882,525) BULKHEAD
Mewgenics $29.99 49,996 89% 1.5M $45M (exactly $44,981,401) Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS $69.99 19,578 92% 587k $41M (exactly $41,107,927) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Broken Arrow $49.99 25,924 55% 778k $39M (exactly $38,878,223) Steel Balalaika
STAR WARS Zero Company™ $49.99 19,521 82% 586k $29M (exactly $29,275,644) Bit Reactor
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road $69.99 11,180 88% 335k $23M (exactly $23,474,646) LEVEL5 Inc.
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era · EA $39.99 19,251 86% 578k $23M (exactly $23,095,425) Unfrozen

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