Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy 2D Fighter?
2D Fighter + Fantasy
Of 100 developers who shipped a Fantasy 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.. 194 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $390 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 67 developers shipped in the last year and 194 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $389 (exactly $389) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $57,540) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 100 |
| Released games | 362 |
| Announced | 194 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, 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
- Fantasy
- 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, PvP
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 10,969 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 194 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Fighter with a different setting or mood, 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
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- 2021 · $57M 
Mortal Kombat X 2015 · $24M 
SOULCALIBUR VI 2018 · $18M 
BlazBlue Centralfiction 2017 · $11M 
Rivals of Aether II 2024 · $6.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- | older | $39.99 | 47,650 88% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $57,165,705) | Arc System Works |
| | Mortal Kombat X | older | $19.99 | 39,392 88% | 1.2M | $24M (exactly $23,623,382) | 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) |
| | BlazBlue Centralfiction | older | $39.99 | 9,476 94% | 284k | $11M (exactly $11,368,357) | Arc System Works |
| | Rivals of Aether II | $29.99 | 6,980 78% | 209k | $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) | Aether Studios | |
 | Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense | older | $19.99 | 9,906 93% | 297k | $5.9M (exactly $5,940,628) | Ironhide Game Studio |
 | 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) |
 | Granblue Fantasy: Versus | older | $19.99 | 7,631 83% | 229k | $4.6M (exactly $4,576,311) | Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works |
 | Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising | older | $24.99 | 5,944 83% | 178k | $4.5M (exactly $4,456,217) | Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works |
 | Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game | $29.99 | 3,298 85% | 99k | $3.0M (exactly $2,967,211) | Gameplay Group International | |
 | Swords and Sandals 3 Redux | $9.99 | 233 87% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $69,830) | Whiskeybarrel Studios | |
 | AQUAPAZZA: Aquaplus Dream Match | $19.99 | 104 33% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | AQUAPLUS | |
 | Age of Barbarians Chronicles | $18.99 | 101 76% | 3.0k | $58k (exactly $57,540) | Crian Soft | |
 | Blueblood Arena | · EA | $8.99 | 88 96% | 2.6k | $24k (exactly $23,734) | Team Blueblood |
 | face the immortal | · EA | $17.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $22k (exactly $22,128) | DY |
 | Morkull Ragast's Rage | $17.99 | 39 69% | 1.2k | $21k (exactly $21,048) | Disaster Games | |
 | The Amazing Crackpots Club! | $14.99 | 41 95% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $18,438) | Astrobard Games, IguanaBee | |
 | Heritage | $9.99 | 44 72% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Big Three Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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