Do I ship it?

GamesActionAction + Dogs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dog Action game?

Action + Dogs

Of 106 developers who shipped a Dog 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.. 144 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $82k, ×132 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 144 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 144 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Dogs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 106
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $2.9k → $4.3k → $716 → $1.4k → $599 → $1.0k (still earning) → $8.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Dogs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 106
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $807 (exactly $807)
Top 25% $7.6k (exactly $7,645)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $82,696)
Developers, 2 yr 106
Released games 331
Announced 144
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 20% on the market, supply 10% more 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
Dogs
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action-Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 9,703 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $810, 1 in 4 over $7.6k, 1 in 20 over $82k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 58 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Watch_Dogs™ older $19.99 49,193 79% 1.5M $30M (exactly $29,501,042) Ubisoft
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 (2011) older $39.99 15,588 90% 468k $19M (exactly $18,700,924) Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
Call of Duty®: Ghosts older $39.99 12,976 66% 389k $16M (exactly $15,567,307) Infinity Ward
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name older $49.99 9,118 95% 274k $14M (exactly $13,674,265) RGG Studio
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition older $39.99 11,103 64% 333k $13M (exactly $13,320,269) Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software
Valiant Hearts: The Great War™ / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre™ older $14.99 24,468 95% 734k $11M (exactly $11,003,260) Ubisoft Montpellier
Beast of Reincarnation $59.99 4,188 56% 126k $7.5M (exactly $7,537,144) GAME FREAK inc.
Necromunda: Hired Gun older $39.99 5,892 68% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,068,632) Streum On Studio
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.
Slitterhead $49.99 1,145 78% 34k $1.7M (exactly $1,717,156) Bokeh Game Studio lnc.
Pratfall $7.99 2,797 90% 84k $670k (exactly $670,441) Quad Head
Sheepherds! $14.99 307 98% 9.2k $138k (exactly $138,058) Ultimo Disco
Wild Blue Skies $14.99 251 58% 7.5k $113k (exactly $112,875) Chuhai Labs, VITEI BACKROOM Inc.
The Pale Mimic $7.99 345 86% 10k $83k (exactly $82,696) Dark Snow Games
Goodboy Galaxy $24.99 110 95% 3.3k $82k (exactly $82,467) Goodboy Galaxy Ltd.
Oh So Hero! $9.99 255 94% 7.7k $76k (exactly $76,424) Full Frontal Frog
Cosmobreeder Yiffai $14.99 166 84% 5.0k $75k (exactly $74,650) KEMOSHOCO
Fright Train $15.99 139 89% 4.2k $67k (exactly $66,678) WildArts Games

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