Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Character Action Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Action Game?

Character Action Game

Of 64 developers who shipped a Character Action 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.. 206 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $15k, ×10 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.0M, ×2061 the market median. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 206 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 85% on the market, 206 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $72k → $2.7k → $5.8k → $118k → $20k → $8.8k (still earning) → $3.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Action Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $2.5k (exactly $2,512)
Median $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 25% $251k (exactly $250,737)
Top 5% $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 716
Announced 206
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 up 85% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 34,912 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.6k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $250k, 1 in 20 over $3.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 6 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Character Action Game

40 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Character Action Game + Sci-fi Poor odds $305k 12 devs
  2. Action RPG + Character Action Game Poor odds $105k 14 devs
  3. Character Action Game + Shooter Poor odds $84k 14 devs
  4. Character Action Game + Action-Adventure Poor odds $58k 23 devs
  5. Character Action Game + Spectacle fighter Poor odds $58k 22 devs
  6. Character Action Game + Female Protagonist Poor odds $58k 14 devs
  7. Character Action Game + Hack and Slash Poor odds $58k 27 devs
  8. Character Action Game + Beat 'em up Poor odds $58k 12 devs
  9. Character Action Game + Adventure Poor odds $29k 28 devs
  10. Character Action Game + Action Poor odds $20k 54 devs
  11. Character Action Game + Action Roguelike Poor odds $20k 9 devs
  12. Character Action Game + Roguelike Poor odds $20k 9 devs
  13. Character Action Game + Simulation Poor odds $15k 10 devs
  14. Character Action Game + Exploration Poor odds $9.0k 10 devs
  15. Character Action Game + Combat Poor odds $7.0k 24 devs
  16. Character Action Game + Fantasy Poor odds $7.0k 17 devs
  17. Character Action Game + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $6.9k 8 devs
  18. Character Action Game + Arcade Poor odds $5.5k 17 devs
  19. Character Action Game + 2D Platformer Poor odds $4.3k 11 devs
  20. Character Action Game + PvE Poor odds $4.3k 10 devs
  21. Character Action Game + Platformer Poor odds $3.2k 14 devs
  22. Character Action Game + Fighting Poor odds $3.0k 9 devs
  23. Character Action Game + Magic Poor odds $1.8k 9 devs
  24. Character Action Game + JRPG Dead $2.4M 2 devs
  25. Character Action Game + Souls-like Dead $1.7M 7 devs
  26. Character Action Game + Swordplay Dead $539k 5 devs
  27. Character Action Game + Third-Person Shooter Dead $500k 4 devs
  28. Character Action Game + RPG Dead $105k 8 devs
  29. Character Action Game + Co-op Dead $75k 6 devs
  30. Character Action Game + Medieval Dead $58k 5 devs
  31. Character Action Game + Robots Dead $55k 5 devs
  32. Character Action Game + Arena Shooter Dead $31k 4 devs
  33. Character Action Game + FPS Dead $29k 7 devs
  34. Character Action Game + Roguelite Dead $20k 7 devs
  35. Character Action Game + Puzzle Dead $15k 4 devs
  36. Character Action Game + 3D Platformer Dead $5.4k 5 devs
  37. Character Action Game + Strategy Dead $599 6 devs
  38. Character Action Game + Multiple Endings Dead $599 4 devs
  39. Character Action Game + Choices Matter Dead $479 7 devs
  40. Character Action Game + Visual Novel Dead $479 2 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ULTRAKILL 2020 · EA · $192M NieR:Automata™ 2017 · $138M Devil May Cry 5 2019 · $107M METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... 2021 · $39M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ULTRAKILL · EA older $29.99 213,450 97% 6.4M $192M (exactly $192,040,965) Arsi "Hakita" Patala
NieR:Automata™ older $39.99 115,103 88% 3.5M $138M (exactly $138,089,069) Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc.
Devil May Cry 5 older $29.99 119,108 96% 3.6M $107M (exactly $107,161,468) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE older $29.99 69,104 96% 2.1M $62M (exactly $62,172,869) PlatinumGames
NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... older $59.99 21,493 88% 645k $39M (exactly $38,680,952) Square Enix, Toylogic Inc.
SCARLET NEXUS older $59.99 13,749 81% 412k $25M (exactly $24,744,075) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Hi-Fi RUSH older $29.99 27,454 97% 824k $25M (exactly $24,700,364) Tango Gameworks
DmC: Devil May Cry older $29.99 20,938 93% 628k $19M (exactly $18,837,919) Ninja Theory
NINJA GAIDEN 4 $69.99 8,459 88% 254k $18M (exactly $17,761,362) PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI… (PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.)
Devil May Cry HD Collection older $29.99 19,493 93% 585k $18M (exactly $17,537,852) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black $49.99 3,289 78% 99k $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN $49.99 2,059 87% 62k $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Lost Soul Aside™ $59.99 1,307 59% 39k $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) Ultizero Games
Homura Hime $24.99 2,316 90% 69k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305) Crimson Dusk
Aeruta $19.99 2,391 94% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) FromDawn Games
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
Mahou Arms $39.99 618 73% 19k $741k (exactly $741,415) Dischan Media
Shady Knight $19.99 898 93% 27k $539k (exactly $538,531) Alexey 'cptnsigh'

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