Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up 2D Fighter?

2D Fighter + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 44 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 50 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $210 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 24 developers shipped in the last year and 50 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 50 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Fighter + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $299 → $270 → $119 → $269 → $150 → $419 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Fighter + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $210 (exactly $210)
Top 25% $505 (exactly $505)
Top 5% $4.5k (exactly $4,497)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 166
Announced 50
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $3.99

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 40% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
2D Fighter, Shoot 'Em Up; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 97% positive over 293 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $210, 1 in 4 over $500, 1 in 20 over $4.4k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. Nearly all of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

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

Maiden and Spell 2020 · $320k Sora 2016 · $104k Super Crush KO 2020 · $95k Acceleration of SUGURI 2 2018 · $76k NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol. 1 Steam Edition 2021 · $66k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Maiden and Spell older $12.99 822 97% 25k $320k (exactly $320,333) mino_dev
Sora older $8.99 384 94% 12k $104k (exactly $103,565) Orange_Juice
Super Crush KO older $14.99 211 96% 6.3k $95k (exactly $94,887) Vertex Pop
Acceleration of SUGURI 2 older $8.99 283 92% 8.5k $76k (exactly $76,325) Orange_Juice
NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol. 1 Steam Edition older $39.99 55 90% 1.7k $66k (exactly $65,984) SNK CORPORATION, Code Mystics
Crazy Flasher 7 Mercenary Empire(stand-alone Version) older $3.99 261 52% 7.8k $31k (exactly $31,242) Andy Law
X-Out: Resurfaced $19.99 41 95% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) KRITZELKRATZ 3000, Rainbow Arts
CPU Invaders - 3i Atlas $4.99 77 98% 2.3k $12k (exactly $11,527) Microblast Games
MAGE: Mega Awesome Gregarious Encounters $9.99 29 89% 870 $8.7k (exactly $8,691) FunRug Studio
Bloody Rampage City older $4.99 37 70% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) Crimson Chaos Studios
Pulsar Crash $14.99 10 100% 300 $4.5k (exactly $4,497) Little Doctor Games
Thumb Tanks $9.99 7 100% 210 $2.1k (exactly $2,098) thumbcramp
Galaxy Invaders - Eclipse Squadron $4.99 14 100% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) PlayCube Interactive
CORA $6.99 8 87% 240 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) Empty House Games
CPU Invaders - Aim Hero $0.99 53 100% 1.6k $1.6k (exactly $1,574) Microblast Games
Dino Slug · EA $3.99 12 100% 360 $1.4k (exactly $1,436) Grafgurke, Johannes Lott
CPU Invaders - Movie Attack $0.99 42 100% 1.3k $1.2k (exactly $1,247) Microblast Games

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