Should I ship a Tank game?
Tanks
Of 155 developers who shipped a Tank 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.. 259 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $760k, ×1220 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 259 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 5% | $766k (exactly $766,289) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 155 |
| Released games | 689 |
| Announced | 259 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 90% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tanks
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Tanks
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 59,538 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 91 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 259 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
All pairs with Tanks
- Tanks + Arcade Dead $358
- Destruction + Tanks Dead $358
- Tanks + Top-Down Shooter Dead $300
- Arena Shooter + Tanks Dead $299
- Tanks + Shoot 'Em Up Dead $150
- Tanks + Exploration Dead $75
- Tanks + Score Attack Dead $59
- 3D Platformer + Tanks Dead $30
Comparable games
Battlefield™ 1 2020 · $241M 
Hell Let Loose 2021 · $149M 
Company of Heroes 2 2013 · $41M 
Broken Arrow 2025 · $39M 
Men of War: Assault Squad 2 2014 · $32M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefield™ 1 | older | $39.99 | 200,661 86% | 6.0M | $241M (exactly $240,733,002) | DICE |
| | Hell Let Loose | older | $49.99 | 99,628 83% | 3.0M | $149M (exactly $149,412,112) | Expression Games |
| | Company of Heroes 2 | older | $19.99 | 68,909 80% | 2.1M | $41M (exactly $41,324,727) | Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive… (Relic Entertainment, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | Broken Arrow | $49.99 | 25,924 55% | 778k | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) | Steel Balalaika | |
| | Men of War: Assault Squad 2 | older | $29.99 | 35,744 91% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,158,877) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | Call of Duty: World at War | older | $19.99 | 45,792 92% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,461,462) | Treyarch |
 | METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER | $49.99 | 13,554 82% | 407k | $20M (exactly $20,326,934) | KONAMI | |
 | Command & Conquer™ Remastered Collection | older | $19.99 | 31,503 90% | 945k | $19M (exactly $18,892,349) | Petroglyph, Lemon Sky Studios |
 | WARNO | older | $39.99 | 14,502 80% | 435k | $17M (exactly $17,398,049) | Eugen Systems |
 | Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad with Rising Storm | older | $19.99 | 24,876 93% | 746k | $15M (exactly $14,918,137) | Tripwire Interactive |
 | The Front | $19.99 | 9,555 66% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) | Samar Studio | |
 | METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots - Master Collection Version | $29.99 | 2,315 96% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,082,806) | KONAMI | |
 | Call to Arms: Panzer Elite | · EA | $29.99 | 1,927 69% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,733,722) | Digitalmindsoft |
 | Sudden Strike 5 | $49.99 | 641 75% | 19k | $961k (exactly $961,308) | Kite Games | |
 | Metal Slug Tactics | $24.99 | 1,152 76% | 35k | $864k (exactly $863,654) | Leikir Studio | |
 | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
 | Vietnam War | · EA | $14.99 | 1,704 84% | 51k | $766k (exactly $766,289) | Thorium Game Lab |
 | TurretGirls | $9.99 | 1,882 85% | 56k | $564k (exactly $564,035) | NANAIRO ENTERPRISE |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.