Games › Sports › Sports + Action
Should I ship an Action Sports game?
Sports + Action
Of 509 developers who shipped an Action Sports 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.. 628 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×440 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 628 games are announced against 291 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $6,951) |
| Top 5% | $276k (exactly $276,208) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 509 |
| Released games | 2,741 |
| Announced | 628 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sports, Action; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Simulation, PvP
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 152,760 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 369 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 628 games are announced against 291 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
Forza Horizon 5 2021 · $468M 
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
Need for Speed™ Unbound 2022 · $105M 
TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M 
Assetto Corsa 2014 · $82M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Forza Horizon 5 | older | $59.99 | 260,218 89% | 7.8M | $468M (exactly $468,314,335) | Playground Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Unbound | older | $69.99 | 49,862 61% | 1.5M | $105M (exactly $104,695,241) | Criterion Games |
| | TEKKEN 7 | older | $39.99 | 68,063 83% | 2.0M | $82M (exactly $81,655,181) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Assetto Corsa | older | $19.99 | 136,067 92% | 4.1M | $82M (exactly $81,599,380) | Kunos Simulazioni |
 | The Crew™ 2 | older | $29.99 | 86,533 78% | 2.6M | $78M (exactly $77,853,740) | Ivory Tower |
 | 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 |
 | Riders Republic | older | $39.99 | 30,458 81% | 914k | $37M (exactly $36,540,463) | Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft Odesa) |
 | REMATCH | $29.99 | 39,905 70% | 1.2M | $36M (exactly $35,902,528) | Sloclap | |
 | Undisputed | $49.99 | 19,190 60% | 576k | $29M (exactly $28,779,243) | Steel City Interactive | |
 | INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road | $69.99 | 11,180 88% | 335k | $23M (exactly $23,474,646) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
 | Le Mans Ultimate | $39.99 | 15,068 79% | 452k | $18M (exactly $18,077,080) | Studio 397 | |
 | Cairn | $29.99 | 18,224 94% | 547k | $16M (exactly $16,396,133) | The Game Bakers | |
 | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
 | Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game | $24.99 | 6,638 94% | 199k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,509) | MLMEDIA | |
 | Super Battle Golf | $12.99 | 9,325 93% | 280k | $3.6M (exactly $3,633,952) | Brimstone | |
 | Pro Soccer Online | $4.99 | 23,241 82% | 697k | $3.5M (exactly $3,479,178) | Skywall Studios LLC | |
 | MindsEye | $34.99 | 2,855 48% | 86k | $3.0M (exactly $2,996,894) | Build A Rocket Boy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.