Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Dwarves

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dwarf Action game?

Action + Dwarves

Of 22 developers who shipped a Dwarf 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.. 50 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.7k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $12M, ×20127 the market median. Revenue is up 540% on the market; 50 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 540% on the market, 50 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Dwarves
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $2.2k → $6.7k → $17k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Dwarves: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $6.7k (exactly $6,736)
Top 25% $233k (exactly $233,283)
Top 5% $13M (exactly $12,639,885)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 78
Announced 50
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.73

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 540% on the market, supply 535% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Dwarves
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action Roguelike, Online Co-Op, PvE
Price point
$9.73 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.73.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 73,337 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 $6.7k, 1 in 4 over $230k, 1 in 20 over $12M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 50 games are announced against 19 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

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M Total War: WARHAMMER III 2022 · $189M Total War: WARHAMMER II 2017 · $153M Warhammer: Vermintide 2 2018 · $82M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
Total War: WARHAMMER III older $59.99 104,822 71% 3.1M $189M (exactly $188,648,153) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive
Total War: WARHAMMER II older $59.99 85,134 92% 2.6M $153M (exactly $153,215,660) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 older $29.99 91,013 84% 2.7M $82M (exactly $81,884,396) Fatshark
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core · EA $29.99 14,049 60% 421k $13M (exactly $12,639,885) Ghost Ship Games
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide older $29.99 13,662 81% 410k $12M (exactly $12,291,701) Fatshark
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ older $29.99 10,242 80% 307k $9.2M (exactly $9,214,727) Free Range Games
Absolum $24.99 9,399 91% 282k $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
SpellForce 3 Reforced older $39.99 5,784 76% 174k $6.9M (exactly $6,939,065) Grimlore Games
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition $19.99 1,858 83% 56k $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) Aspyr Media
Stonewards · EA $9.99 806 94% 24k $242k (exactly $241,558) Banana Tiger Studio
Regions of Ruin: Runegate $19.99 389 84% 12k $233k (exactly $233,283) Gameclaw Studio
Iron Core: Mech Survivor $6.99 352 73% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Soda Game Studio
Gnaughty Gnomes $7.99 71 100% 2.1k $17k (exactly $17,019) SandCastles Studio
Dwarf Delve $12.99 33 33% 990 $13k (exactly $12,860) Gloom Box
Into the Slimy Mines $12.99 26 100% 780 $10k (exactly $10,132) Ant Workshop Ltd

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