Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + 2D Fighter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Fighter Tactical game?

Tactical + 2D Fighter

Of 36 developers who shipped a 2D Fighter Tactical 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.. 39 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 21 developers shipped in the last year and 39 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 260% on the market, 39 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + 2D Fighter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $386 → $1.6k → $179 → $0 → $599 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + 2D Fighter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,574)
Top 5% $6.9k (exactly $6,886)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 94
Announced 39
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 up 260% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
2D Fighter
effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, 2D Fighter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Combat
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 232 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $240, 1 in 4 over $1.5k, 1 in 20 over $6.8k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Checkmate Showdown 2023 · $115k World Championship Boxing Manager™ 2 2023 · $35k 天天地下城 2022 · $16k Gladiators and Glory 2023 · $14k Shadow Prisoner 2024 · EA · $13k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Checkmate Showdown older $19.99 192 80% 5.8k $115k (exactly $115,142) BadRez Games
World Championship Boxing Manager™ 2 older $12.99 90 67% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,073) Mega Cat Studios
天天地下城 older $4.99 107 97% 3.2k $16k (exactly $16,018) BIFROST CLOUD PTE. LTD.
Gladiators and Glory older $7.99 57 89% 1.7k $14k (exactly $13,663) Oguz Kemerli
Shadow Prisoner · EA $13.99 32 93% 960 $13k (exactly $13,430) Kizawaya
Plunder Panic older $6.99 59 96% 1.8k $12k (exactly $12,372) Will Winn Games
Pixel Pirate older $24.99 14 78% 420 $10k (exactly $10,496) Stas Paty9mkin
Jumpala older $9.99 33 69% 990 $9.9k (exactly $9,890) Yokereba Games
Street karate 3 older $4.99 55 80% 1.7k $8.2k (exactly $8,234) Essential Tactics Games
ChanceBall $4.99 46 100% 1.4k $6.9k (exactly $6,886) Second Tempo Games
Battle Squares $9.99 17 76% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Feesh Studio
Emoji Wars $9.99 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Total
Fruits Vs Veggies $6.99 13 100% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Ishbull Studios
Rayadillo · EA $2.99 25 84% 750 $2.2k (exactly $2,242) Rayadillo Games
Gangs Of Asia · EA $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Moonpunch
Valkeala Birds $2.99 18 77% 540 $1.6k (exactly $1,615) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka
CPU Invaders - Aim Hero $0.99 53 100% 1.6k $1.6k (exactly $1,574) Microblast Games
Shield Operator $4.99 10 50% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Puantaun Studio

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