Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Cooking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cooking Action game?

Action + Cooking

Of 123 developers who shipped a Cooking 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.. 270 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×660 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 270 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 270 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Cooking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 123
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $1.5k → $955 → $4.0k → $3.5k → $6.6k → $4.3k (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Cooking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 123
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $4.0k (exactly $4,047)
Top 25% $30k (exactly $29,985)
Top 5% $415k (exactly $414,742)
Developers, 2 yr 123
Released games 283
Announced 270
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 20% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Cooking
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, Cooking; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 22,592 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 270 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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

Overcooked! 2 2018 · $46M Black Desert 2017 · $19M Hello Kitty Island Adventure 2025 · $12M PlateUp! 2022 · $11M Cooking Simulator 2019 · $11M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Overcooked! 2 older $24.99 61,956 90% 1.9M $46M (exactly $46,448,413) Ghost Town Games Ltd., Team17
Black Desert older $9.99 63,052 75% 1.9M $19M (exactly $18,896,684) Pearl Abyss
Hello Kitty Island Adventure $39.99 9,637 93% 289k $12M (exactly $11,561,509) Sunblink
PlateUp! older $19.99 18,500 94% 555k $11M (exactly $11,094,450) It's happening
Cooking Simulator older $19.99 17,837 84% 535k $11M (exactly $10,696,849) Big Cheese Studio
Overcooked older $16.99 13,528 89% 406k $6.9M (exactly $6,895,222) Ghost Town Games Ltd.
Dungeon Munchies older $19.99 6,596 97% 198k $4.0M (exactly $3,955,621) maJAJa
Ale & Tale Tavern older $14.99 8,692 88% 261k $3.9M (exactly $3,908,792) Scienart Games
Fae Farm older $29.99 2,741 78% 82k $2.5M (exactly $2,466,078) Phoenix Labs
Feed the Cups · EA older $15.99 4,708 72% 141k $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) Vambear Games
Aeruta $19.99 2,391 94% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) FromDawn Games
Omelet You Cook $14.99 1,523 97% 46k $685k (exactly $684,893) Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose
Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe $5.99 3,450 98% 104k $620k (exactly $619,965) Flipline Studios
Alaska Gold Fever $16.99 959 79% 29k $489k (exactly $488,802) Baked Games
Chef Knight $5.99 2,433 94% 73k $437k (exactly $437,210) Clover Bite
Sunset Motel $18.99 728 77% 22k $415k (exactly $414,742) Efkey Studios
Winter Survival $18.99 595 62% 18k $339k (exactly $338,972) DRAGO entertainment
Cook Serve Forever $29.99 333 69% 10k $300k (exactly $299,600) Vertigo Gaming Inc.
Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse $16.99 543 72% 16k $277k (exactly $276,767) Frontside 180

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