Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Deckbuilding
Should I ship a Deckbuilding 2D Fighter?
2D Fighter + Deckbuilding
Only 17 developers shipped a Deckbuilding 2D Fighter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Rune Coliseum, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 12 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) |
| Top 5% | $505k (exactly $504,754) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 31 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, 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
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 2D Fighter, Deckbuilding; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Card Battler
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 1,540 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
2D Fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + RhythmFair
- + SimulationFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ManagementFair
- + SuperheroLong shot
- + Resource ManagementLong shot
- + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds
Comparable games
ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M 
Rune Coliseum 2024 · EA · $505k 
Backpack Jianghu 2026 · $237k 
Duelists of Eden 2024 · $128k 
EndCycle VS 2022 · $12k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
| | Backpack Jianghu | $13.99 | 565 80% | 17k | $237k (exactly $237,130) | 背包工作室 | |
| | Duelists of Eden | older | $4.99 | 856 95% | 26k | $128k (exactly $128,143) | Thomas Moon Kang |
| | EndCycle VS | older | $4.99 | 81 88% | 2.4k | $12k (exactly $12,126) | 12B3 |
 | Wink Out | · EA | $7.99 | 31 100% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Clevergence Games |
 | Deck of Treads | $7.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) | DuckByte Games | |
 | Dungeon & Poker | $6.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) | Vansonstudio | |
 | Gnomer | $4.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | Team Ruby | |
 | Reborn Arena | $4.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | GameLabel Studio | |
 | Sheva | $6.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Goldtusks | |
 | Robots with Guns | $7.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | Flash of Stars | |
 | FULL BET - FIGHTING CASINO - | $19.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | FlatMountain |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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