Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Creature Collector

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Action game?

Action + Creature Collector

Of 143 developers who shipped a Creature Collector 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.. 276 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×985 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 276 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 276 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Creature Collector
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 143
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.9k → $861 → $240 → $2.4k → $2.9k → $719 → $628 (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Creature Collector: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 143
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,786)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,072)
Top 5% $619k (exactly $618,787)
Developers, 2 yr 143
Released games 342
Announced 276
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 35% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Creature Collector; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action-Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 468,333 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $610k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 276 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 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

Palworld 2026 · $371M Slime Rancher 2 2025 · $39M WILD HEARTS™ 2023 · $22M Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition 2019 · $16M Bugsnax 2022 · $6.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
Slime Rancher 2 $29.99 43,590 94% 1.3M $39M (exactly $39,217,923) Monomi Park
WILD HEARTS™ older $69.99 10,626 48% 319k $22M (exactly $22,311,412) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition older $49.99 10,810 89% 324k $16M (exactly $16,211,757) h.a.n.d., Inc., Media.Vision Inc.
Bugsnax older $24.99 8,673 97% 260k $6.5M (exactly $6,502,148) Young Horses
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch™ Remastered older $49.99 4,023 83% 121k $6.0M (exactly $6,033,293) LEVEL5 Inc., QLOC
Digimon World: Next Order older $59.99 2,331 80% 70k $4.2M (exactly $4,195,101) HYDE, Inc.
Voidling Bound $24.99 3,126 92% 94k $2.3M (exactly $2,343,562) Hatchery Games
Nexomon: Extinction older $19.99 3,713 90% 111k $2.2M (exactly $2,226,686) VEWO Interactive Inc.
Towers of Aghasba · EA $29.99 1,904 67% 57k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,029) Dreamlit inc.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army $49.99 1,045 93% 31k $1.6M (exactly $1,567,186) ATLUS
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
LumenTale: Memories of Trey $24.99 1,130 70% 34k $847k (exactly $847,161) Beehive Studios
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Europa $14.99 778 85% 23k $350k (exactly $349,867) Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadu… (Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadust Entertainment)

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