Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Beat 'em up 2D Fighter?
2D Fighter + Beat 'em up
Of 102 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up 2D Fighter 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.. 162 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 162 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper, while revenue is down 40% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) |
| Top 5% | $154k (exactly $153,688) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 102 |
| Released games | 381 |
| Announced | 162 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 down 40% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 2D Fighter
- effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 2D Fighter, Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Arcade
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Side Scroller, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 17,133 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 66 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 162 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + RhythmFair
- + SimulationFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ManagementFair
- + SuperheroLong shot
- + Resource ManagementLong shot
Comparable games
TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M 
Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M 
Injustice™ 2 2017 · $26M 
SOULCALIBUR VI 2018 · $18M 
Street Fighter V 2016 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TEKKEN 7 | older | $39.99 | 68,063 83% | 2.0M | $82M (exactly $81,655,181) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
| | Injustice™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 17,445 86% | 523k | $26M (exactly $26,162,266) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
| | SOULCALIBUR VI | older | $59.99 | 9,768 83% | 293k | $18M (exactly $17,579,470) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc., Dimps Corpor… (BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc., Dimps Corporation) |
| | Street Fighter V | older | $19.99 | 27,820 72% | 835k | $17M (exactly $16,683,654) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Ultra Street Fighter® IV | older | $29.99 | 11,054 91% | 332k | $9.9M (exactly $9,945,284) | Capcom |
 | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
 | Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition | older | $19.99 | 9,864 86% | 296k | $5.9M (exactly $5,915,441) | NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Softw… (NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Software) |
 | DNF Duel | older | $49.99 | 3,693 64% | 111k | $5.5M (exactly $5,538,392) | NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING… (NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING Co., Ltd.) |
 | Granblue Fantasy: Versus | older | $19.99 | 7,631 83% | 229k | $4.6M (exactly $4,576,311) | Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | Little Fighter 2 Remastered | $15.88 | 1,770 76% | 53k | $843k (exactly $843,228) | Little Fighter Co Pty Ltd, Marti Wong | |
 | Forestrike | $9.99 | 920 91% | 28k | $276k (exactly $275,724) | Skeleton Crew Studio, Thomas Olsson | |
 | Halluci-Sabbat of Koishi | $7.99 | 701 91% | 21k | $168k (exactly $168,030) | ZRIGN 地霊研究院 | |
 | Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate | $24.99 | 205 84% | 6.2k | $154k (exactly $153,688) | Rocket Panda Games Japan | |
 | Femboy Futa Mania 🌶️ | $14.99 | 174 71% | 5.2k | $78k (exactly $78,248) | Lewd Star | |
 | The Karate Kid: Street Rumble | $39.99 | 64 73% | 1.9k | $77k (exactly $76,781) | Odaclick Game Studio | |
 | Decline's Drops | $14.99 | 170 96% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Le Moulin aux Bulles | |
 | IGNOBLE | $6.99 | 331 82% | 9.9k | $69k (exactly $69,411) | Retromagine |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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