Games › Action › Action + Samurai
Should I ship a Samurai Action game?
Action + Samurai
Only 18 developers shipped a Samurai Action game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 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 $17k, ×26 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $11k; 1 in 20 cleared $73M, ×116864 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 30 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $11k (exactly $10,782) |
|---|---|
| Median | $17k (exactly $16,639) |
| Top 25% | $192k (exactly $191,923) |
| Top 5% | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 30 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Open World, RPG
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Violent
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 54,306 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $11k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 11 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
Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT 2024 · $116M 
Assassin’s Creed Shadows 2025 · $73M 
Nioh: Complete Edition 2017 · $44M 
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun 2016 · $37M 
Onimusha: Way of the Sword 2026 · $24M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT | older | $59.99 | 64,591 93% | 1.9M | $116M (exactly $116,244,423) | Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Softwa… (Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Software) |
| | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | $69.99 | 34,953 75% | 1.0M | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) | Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine) | |
| | Nioh: Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 29,580 78% | 887k | $44M (exactly $44,361,126) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | older | $39.99 | 30,845 96% | 925k | $37M (exactly $37,004,746) | Mimimi Games |
| | Onimusha: Way of the Sword | $69.99 | 11,279 89% | 338k | $24M (exactly $23,682,516) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | Rise of the Ronin | $49.99 | 6,503 64% | 195k | $9.8M (exactly $9,752,549) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | older | $39.99 | 4,891 80% | 147k | $5.9M (exactly $5,867,733) | RGG Studio |
 | SAMURAI SHODOWN | older | $49.53 | 1,685 81% | 51k | $2.5M (exactly $2,503,742) | SNK CORPORATION |
 | SAMURAI WARRIORS 5 | older | $59.99 | 1,313 81% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,363,006) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | SAMURAI WARRIORS 4-II | older | $49.99 | 1,259 73% | 38k | $1.9M (exactly $1,888,122) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Katanaut | $17.99 | 484 88% | 15k | $261k (exactly $261,215) | Voidmaw | |
 | Warlord: Awaji | $24.99 | 256 78% | 7.7k | $192k (exactly $191,923) | Darkmatter Games | |
 | Gurei | $15.99 | 281 83% | 8.4k | $135k (exactly $134,796) | Lobo Sagaz studio | |
 | Two Strikes | $14.99 | 256 89% | 7.7k | $115k (exactly $115,123) | Retro Reactor | |
 | Red Masked Ronin: Desires and Shadows | · EA | $12.99 | 205 64% | 6.2k | $80k (exactly $79,888) | Light Hunt Games |
 | Cursed Blood | · EA | $14.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | David Marquardt Studios |
 | Tokyo Underground Killer | $9.99 | 52 78% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $15,584) | Phoenix Game Productions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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