The niche at a glance

Class-Based on Steam: 1,613 released games, 723 in the last 12 months, 1,182 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 13. 45% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 16%. Class-Based is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included691 releases
p100
p252
median13
p7571
p90480
45% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $7.99 · 16% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
11med 120 · 9% unseen
2020
61med 25 · 31% unseen
2021
96med 34 · 30% unseen
2022
128med 21 · 29% unseen
2023
169med 27 · 28% unseen
2024
189med 20 · 38% unseen
2025
226med 15 · 41% unseen
2026
438med 4 · 60% unseen · 204 too fresh

Class-Based × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Class-Based at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Class-Based ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Military2483533.3% 18%–53%21.2%
cliché ×1.88141 d
Onward
World of Tanks: HEAT
Tower Dominion
Onward · World of Tanks: HEAT · Tower Dominion
War2673530.8% 17%–50%20.3%
cliché ×1.84173 d
Onward
Tower Dominion
Forefront
Onward · Tower Dominion · Forefront
Mythology2686023.1% 11%–42%15.9%
cliché ×2.50192 d
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel
NORSE: Oath of Blood
Legend of YMIR
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel · NORSE: Oath of Blood · Legend of YMIR
Vampires6126under 2012.8%
ordinary ×1.25859 d
Sneak Out
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Sneak Out · Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Zombies2451616.7% 7%–36%12.1%
ordinary ×1.21258 d
Warface
FBC: Firebreak
The Midnight Walkers
Warface · FBC: Firebreak · The Midnight Walkers
Dragons16661under 2012.0%
cliché ×2.84131 d
The Nameless: Slay Dragon
Eterspire
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
The Nameless: Slay Dragon · Eterspire · Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Fantasy3241242012.3% 9%–16%12.0%
cliché ×3.3190 d
Dark and Darker
SUPERVIVE
Rabbit and Steel
Dark and Darker · SUPERVIVE · Rabbit and Steel
Historical8415under 2011.9%
ordinary ×0.80238 d
NORSE: Oath of Blood
Three Kingdoms Mushouden
NORSE: Oath of Blood · Three Kingdoms Mushouden
Steampunk818under 2011.9%
cliché ×2.08686 d
Dark Envoy
New Arc Line
Dark Envoy · New Arc Line
Horror25101416.0% 6%–35%11.9%
ordinary ×0.40258 d
Sneak Out
SKALD: Against the Black Priory
FBC: Firebreak
Sneak Out · SKALD: Against the Black Priory · FBC: Firebreak
Dark Fantasy98411912.2% 7%–20%11.3%
cliché ×3.52141 d
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel
Dragonheir: Silent Gods
SKALD: Against the Black Priory
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel · Dragonheir: Silent Gods · SKALD: Against the Black Priory
Aliens1979under 2011.1%
ordinary ×1.27151 d
Starship Troopers: Extermination
Tower Dominion
Down with the Ship
Starship Troopers: Extermination · Tower Dominion · Down with the Ship
Space28121014.3% 6%–31%11.1%
ordinary ×0.92151 d
Starship Troopers: Extermination
Risk of Rain Returns
TRIBES 3: Rivals
Starship Troopers: Extermination · Risk of Rain Returns · TRIBES 3: Rivals
Sci-fi75281012.0% 6%–21%10.9%
ordinary ×1.22141 d
Marathon
Starship Troopers: Extermination
Risk of Rain Returns
Marathon · Starship Troopers: Extermination · Risk of Rain Returns
Modern13635under 2010.1%
ordinary ×0.98173 d
Onward
Forefront
Onward · Forefront
20 pairings cleared 20 releases; 88 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.7% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.