Games › Fighting › Fighting + 2D Fighter
Should I ship a 2D Fighter Fighting game?
Fighting + 2D Fighter
Of 85 developers who shipped a 2D Fighter Fighting 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.. 117 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $2.9M, ×1981 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 117 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,887) |
| Top 5% | $3.0M (exactly $2,967,211) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 85 |
| Released games | 481 |
| Announced | 117 |
| Effort | 7 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Fighting
- effort 7 / 10 · low · frame data, hitboxes and rollback netcode
- 2D Fighter
- effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Fighting, 2D Fighter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Arcade
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 34,102 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Fighting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SandboxStrong odds
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + SwordplayPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CyberpunkPoor odds
- + Local Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
Comparable games
Mortal Kombat 11 2019 · $131M 
TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M 
Street Fighter™ 6 2023 · $60M 
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- 2021 · $57M 
Mortal Kombat 1 2023 · $51M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mortal Kombat 11 | older | $49.99 | 87,021 88% | 2.6M | $131M (exactly $130,505,394) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC, Shiver |
| | TEKKEN 7 | older | $39.99 | 68,063 83% | 2.0M | $82M (exactly $81,655,181) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Street Fighter™ 6 | older | $39.99 | 49,952 81% | 1.5M | $60M (exactly $59,927,414) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- | older | $39.99 | 47,650 88% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $57,165,705) | Arc System Works |
| | Mortal Kombat 1 | older | $49.99 | 34,197 74% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,285,241) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
 | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
 | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles | older | $59.99 | 16,545 87% | 496k | $30M (exactly $29,776,036) | CyberConnect2 |
 | Injustice™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 17,445 86% | 523k | $26M (exactly $26,162,266) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
 | Mortal Kombat X | older | $19.99 | 39,392 88% | 1.2M | $24M (exactly $23,623,382) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R | older | $49.99 | 14,344 91% | 430k | $22M (exactly $21,511,697) | CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. |
 | MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls | $59.99 | 4,934 48% | 148k | $8.9M (exactly $8,879,720) | ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO., LTD | |
 | THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV | $29.99 | 8,399 83% | 252k | $7.6M (exactly $7,556,580) | SNK CORPORATION | |
 | Rivals of Aether II | $29.99 | 6,980 78% | 209k | $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) | Aether Studios | |
 | Invincible VS | $49.99 | 3,031 76% | 91k | $4.5M (exactly $4,545,591) | Quarter Up | |
 | Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game | $29.99 | 3,298 85% | 99k | $3.0M (exactly $2,967,211) | Gameplay Group International | |
 | FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves | $19.99 | 3,135 82% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,880,059) | SNK CORPORATION | |
 | Capcom Fighting Collection 2 | $39.99 | 734 85% | 22k | $881k (exactly $880,580) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | A Few Quick Matches | $6.99 | 2,475 85% | 74k | $519k (exactly $519,008) | Studio Bidou | |
 | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
 | HUNTER×HUNTER NEN×IMPACT | $59.99 | 230 64% | 6.9k | $414k (exactly $413,931) | Bushiroad Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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