Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Party Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Party Game 2D Fighter?

2D Fighter + Party Game

Of 46 developers who shipped a Party Game 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.. 60 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $8.6k, ×14 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 60 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 60 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Fighter + Party Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $390 → $539 (still earning) → $495 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Fighter + Party Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,696)
Top 5% $8.7k (exactly $8,691)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 79
Announced 60
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 70% on the market, supply 720% 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.

2D Fighter
effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
Party Game
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
2D Fighter, Party Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Arcade
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 1,130 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $540, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $8.6k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

2D Fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomanceStrong odds8 devs · median $4.0k · 6 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair11 devs · median $4.0k · 12 announced
  3. + Card BattlerFair10 devs · median $1.0k · 11 announced
  4. + DeckbuildingFair17 devs · median $959 · 12 announced
  5. + Auto BattlerFair16 devs · median $719 · 19 announced
  6. + IdlerFair9 devs · median $599 · 18 announced
  7. + RhythmFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  8. + SimulationFair51 devs · median $598 · 55 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $538 · 13 announced
  10. + ManagementFair10 devs · median $449 · 14 announced
  11. + SuperheroLong shot11 devs · median $959 · 12 announced
  12. + Resource ManagementLong shot13 devs · median $390 · 14 announced

All 129 pairs on the 2D Fighter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M Nidhogg 2014 · $1.7M TowerFall Ascension 2014 · $1.3M Nidhogg 2 2017 · $462k Smack Talk 2026 · $156k
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
Nidhogg older $9.99 5,717 90% 172k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) Messhof
TowerFall Ascension older $14.99 2,942 95% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,017) Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.)
Nidhogg 2 older $14.99 1,027 82% 31k $462k (exactly $461,842) Messhof
Smack Talk $5.99 867 96% 26k $156k (exactly $155,800) Monchii Studio
Griefhelm older $9.99 267 75% 8.0k $80k (exactly $80,020) Johnny Dale Lonack
King of the Hat older $19.99 130 97% 3.9k $78k (exactly $77,961) Hat Games
Samurai GUNN older $4.99 354 93% 11k $53k (exactly $52,994) Beau Blyth, Doseone
Royalty Free-For-All $11.99 104 86% 3.1k $37k (exactly $37,409) AAAA Games, LLC
Plunder Panic older $6.99 59 96% 1.8k $12k (exactly $12,372) Will Winn Games
MAGE: Mega Awesome Gregarious Encounters $9.99 29 89% 870 $8.7k (exactly $8,691) FunRug Studio
Wink Out · EA $7.99 31 100% 930 $7.4k (exactly $7,431) Clevergence Games
Which Way Up: Galaxy Games $14.99 16 100% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) Turtle Flip Studio
WIZARD PUNKS!!! $6.99 23 95% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) EyeOfStormCat
Goo Goo Grapplers $7.99 20 100% 600 $4.8k (exactly $4,794) Both Good
HeadHunters $9.99 12 100% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Sumalab
Thumps & Blows $6.99 15 100% 450 $3.1k (exactly $3,146) Widijou
Deck of Treads $7.99 13 100% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) DuckByte Games

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