Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Action game?

Action + Auto Battler

Of 173 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Action 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.. 252 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×268 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 252 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 252 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 173
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $1.8k → $3.1k → $2.7k → $2.2k → $839 → $599 (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 173
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $4.6k (exactly $4,641)
Top 5% $168k (exactly $168,389)
Developers, 2 yr 173
Released games 407
Announced 252
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 30% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Auto Battler
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
Action, Auto Battler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 48,247 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $900, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 72 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 252 games are announced against 115 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Thronefall 2024 · $8.9M Mechabellum 2024 · $8.0M Warpips 2022 · $2.2M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Be My Horde 2024 · EA · $615k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Thronefall $12.99 22,966 96% 689k $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) GrizzlyGames, Mythwright
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
Warpips older $16.99 4,339 87% 130k $2.2M (exactly $2,211,588) Skirmish Mode Games
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Be My Horde · EA older $9.99 2,052 85% 62k $615k (exactly $614,984) Polished Games
Mini Healer · EA older $7.99 2,239 87% 67k $537k (exactly $536,688) Sad Doge
Eslabong · EA $14.99 1,077 95% 32k $484k (exactly $484,327) shirowita
Ludus Magnatus: Gladiator Manager Simulator · EA $24.99 612 81% 18k $459k (exactly $458,816) Contec Games
Wretch: Divine Ascent $14.99 975 75% 29k $438k (exactly $438,458) Ogopogo
Skull Horde $12.99 1,083 81% 32k $422k (exactly $422,045) 8BitSkull
Flash Doll $8.99 859 80% 26k $232k (exactly $231,672) Game Star
Maktala: Slime Lootfest $4.99 1,345 79% 40k $201k (exactly $201,346) Samharia Studios
Legionbound $9.99 671 83% 20k $201k (exactly $201,099) Spicy Garlic Games
Zad Archery $6.99 803 73% 24k $168k (exactly $168,389) Samharia Studios

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