Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat Action game?

Action + Cats

Of 220 developers who shipped a Cat 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.. 347 more are announced, ×2.5 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 $270; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×206 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 347 games are announced against 140 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 347 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 220
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.8k → $1.3k → $987 → $599 → $1.3k → $1.6k → $599 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 220
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $6.9k (exactly $6,886)
Top 5% $130k (exactly $129,535)
Developers, 2 yr 220
Released games 625
Announced 347
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 up 25% on the market, supply 70% 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
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Platformer
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,052 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $900, 1 in 4 over $6.8k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 102 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 347 games are announced against 140 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different setting or mood, 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

Stray 2022 · $142M Nine Sols 2024 · $36M BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023 · $5.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stray older $29.99 157,579 97% 4.7M $142M (exactly $141,773,826) BlueTwelve Studio
Nine Sols older $29.99 40,138 94% 1.2M $36M (exactly $36,112,159) RedCandleGames
BattleBlock Theater® older $14.99 55,793 97% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,090,112) The Behemoth
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl older $49.99 4,311 75% 129k $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective older $29.99 6,429 97% 193k $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
In Sound Mind older $34.99 5,467 95% 164k $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) We Create Stuff
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin older $29.99 5,004 92% 150k $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) Edelweiss
Cat Quest older $12.99 8,371 94% 251k $3.3M (exactly $3,262,179) The Gentlebros
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales $59.99 1,687 78% 51k $3.0M (exactly $3,036,094) Square Enix, Claytechworks
Cat Quest II older $14.99 5,850 95% 176k $2.6M (exactly $2,630,745) The Gentlebros
Garden of Witches $18.99 1,978 92% 59k $1.1M (exactly $1,126,867) Team Tapas
Bits & Bops $15.99 1,799 91% 54k $863k (exactly $862,980) Tempo Lab Games
1666: Amsterdam · EA $29.99 784 63% 24k $705k (exactly $705,365) Panache Digital Games
Kristala $39.99 485 71% 15k $582k (exactly $581,854) Astral Clocktower Studios
Bubsy 4D $19.99 777 92% 23k $466k (exactly $465,967) Fabraz
Twin Shot Deluxe $9.99 1,167 95% 35k $350k (exactly $349,750) Nitrome Limited
Fatal Claw $24.99 428 89% 13k $321k (exactly $320,872) NDEV GAMES
Morsels $14.99 552 75% 17k $248k (exactly $248,234) Furcula
Super Chipflake Ü: Quest for the Uncooked Schnitzel $19.99 395 96% 12k $237k (exactly $236,881) SalsaShark Studios

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