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Should I ship a PvE 2D Fighter?
PvE + 2D Fighter
Of 96 developers who shipped a PvE 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.. 181 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $330 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 60 developers shipped in the last year and 181 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $61 (exactly $61) |
|---|---|
| Median | $330 (exactly $330) |
| Top 25% | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 5% | $57k (exactly $56,970) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 96 |
| Released games | 275 |
| Announced | 181 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 15% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvE
- effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
- 2D Fighter
- effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, 2D Fighter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 929 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $61. 9 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 181 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M 
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 2023 · $1.5M 
First Cut: Samurai Duel 2024 · $536k 
Shing! 2020 · $200k 
Asterix & Obelix: Slap them All! 2021 · $172k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) | Fair Play Labs |
| | First Cut: Samurai Duel | older | $8.99 | 1,986 88% | 60k | $536k (exactly $535,624) | Night Eyes Interactive |
| | Shing! | older | $19.99 | 334 79% | 10k | $200k (exactly $200,300) | Mass Creation |
| | Asterix & Obelix: Slap them All! | older | $24.99 | 229 63% | 6.9k | $172k (exactly $171,681) | Mr. Nutz Studio |
 | Pulling No Punches | older | $9.99 | 563 95% | 17k | $169k (exactly $168,731) | BrainDead Broccoli |
 | SHIPS AT WAR | · EA older | $14.99 | 369 76% | 11k | $166k (exactly $165,939) | Golddorf Spieleentwicklung |
 | Unsouled | older | $19.99 | 265 72% | 8.0k | $159k (exactly $158,920) | Megusta Game |
 | Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate | $24.99 | 205 84% | 6.2k | $154k (exactly $153,688) | Rocket Panda Games Japan | |
 | Duelists of Eden | older | $4.99 | 856 95% | 26k | $128k (exactly $128,143) | Thomas Moon Kang |
 | Terrordrome - Reign of the Legends | $19.99 | 168 72% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Huracan Studio | |
 | IGS Classic Arcade Collection | $29.99 | 94 60% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | IGS(台灣鈊象電子) | |
 | Decline's Drops | $14.99 | 170 96% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Le Moulin aux Bulles | |
 | Trials of Valor | $18.99 | 100 95% | 3.0k | $57k (exactly $56,970) | Armored Goblin | |
 | Terrifier: The ARTcade Game | $19.99 | 56 58% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $33,583) | Relevo | |
 | FIGHTING GIRL YURI | $29.99 | 31 54% | 930 | $28k (exactly $27,891) | UMAI NEKO | |
 | X-Out: Resurfaced | $19.99 | 41 95% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | KRITZELKRATZ 3000, Rainbow Arts | |
 | Heritage | $9.99 | 44 72% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Big Three Games | |
 | River City Saga: Journey to the West | $19.99 | 20 65% | 600 | $12k (exactly $11,994) | Arc System Works, UnitePlus |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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