Games › Action › Action + Music
Should I ship a Music Action game?
Action + Music
Of 136 developers who shipped a Music 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.. 220 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $330; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1701 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 220 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $327 (exactly $327) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,869) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,068,322) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 136 |
| Released games | 675 |
| Announced | 220 |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Rhythm, Arcade
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 56,385 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $330. 8 in 10 of the 67 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 220 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B 
Need for Speed™ Unbound 2022 · $105M 
Geometry Dash 2014 · $89M 
DJMAX RESPECT V 2020 · $45M 
Beat Saber 2019 · $42M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Black Myth: Wukong | older | $59.99 | 881,186 96% | 26M | $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) | Game Science |
| | Need for Speed™ Unbound | older | $69.99 | 49,862 61% | 1.5M | $105M (exactly $104,695,241) | Criterion Games |
| | Geometry Dash | older | $4.99 | 595,606 93% | 18M | $89M (exactly $89,162,218) | RobTop Games |
| | DJMAX RESPECT V | older | $49.99 | 29,808 88% | 894k | $45M (exactly $44,703,058) | NEOWIZ |
| | Beat Saber | older | $19.99 | 69,750 95% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,829,075) | Beat Games |
 | Hotline Miami | older | $9.99 | 109,610 96% | 3.3M | $33M (exactly $32,850,117) | Dennaton Games |
 | Mafia II (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 36,389 92% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $32,739,183) | 2K Czech |
 | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
 | Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+ | older | $39.39 | 19,507 94% | 585k | $23M (exactly $23,051,422) | SEGA |
 | Rhythm Doctor | $19.99 | 25,021 98% | 751k | $15M (exactly $15,005,094) | 7th Beat Games | |
 | Dead as Disco | · EA | $24.99 | 12,354 96% | 371k | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) | Brain Jar Games, Inc. |
 | Rift of the NecroDancer | $19.99 | 5,844 93% | 175k | $3.5M (exactly $3,504,647) | Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios I… (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios Inc.) | |
 | Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil | $17.99 | 3,740 98% | 112k | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) | 上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise | |
 | Ratatan | · EA | $24.99 | 2,449 85% | 73k | $1.8M (exactly $1,836,015) | TVT Co. Ltd., Ratata Arts |
 | Everhood 2 | $19.99 | 2,207 74% | 66k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538) | Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca | |
 | Sixtar Gate: STARTRAIL | $24.99 | 1,425 86% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,068,322) | Starlike Inc. | |
 | PLATiNA :: LAB | $19.99 | 1,780 50% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,067,466) | HIGH-END Games | |
 | PUMP IT UP RISE | $44.99 | 777 80% | 23k | $1.0M (exactly $1,048,717) | ANDAMIRO | |
 | In Falsus | $39.99 | 788 89% | 24k | $945k (exactly $945,364) | lowiro |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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