Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Time Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Attack Action game?

Action + Time Attack

Of 90 developers who shipped a Time Attack 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.. 110 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 110 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 110 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Time Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 90
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $13k → $4.0k → $748 → $628 → $1.1k → $2.5k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Time Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 90
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 5% $42k (exactly $42,258)
Developers, 2 yr 90
Released games 288
Announced 110
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 down 10% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Time Attack
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, Time Attack; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Platformer, Score Attack
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,900 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $600, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $42k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 110 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, 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. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  11. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds108 devs · median $71k · 261 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mirror's Edge™ 2009 · $19M Super Meat Boy 2010 · $14M Severed Steel 2021 · $6.7M Hot Lava 2019 · $3.2M Trackmania United Forever 2008 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mirror's Edge™ older $19.99 31,195 87% 936k $19M (exactly $18,707,642) DICE
Super Meat Boy older $14.99 30,031 93% 901k $14M (exactly $13,504,941) Team Meat
Severed Steel older $24.99 8,880 95% 266k $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) Greylock Studio
Hot Lava older $19.99 5,335 92% 160k $3.2M (exactly $3,199,399) Klei Entertainment
Trackmania United Forever older $29.99 2,488 94% 75k $2.2M (exactly $2,238,454) Nadeo
Trackmania® Turbo older $39.99 1,520 66% 46k $1.8M (exactly $1,823,544) Nadeo
TrackMania² Stadium older $9.99 5,340 88% 160k $1.6M (exactly $1,600,398) Nadeo
Cyber Hook older $14.99 3,102 95% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,394,969) Blazing Stick
HYPER DEMON older $14.99 3,087 94% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,388,224) Sorath
Marble It Up! Ultra older $29.99 1,060 93% 32k $954k (exactly $953,682) Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes an… (Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes and Lines, Arcturus Interactive, The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild)
Super Meat Boy 3D $24.99 828 87% 25k $621k (exactly $620,752) Sluggerfly, Team Meat
DEADLINE DELIVERY $14.99 319 85% 9.6k $143k (exactly $143,454) GOOD1 Studios
SNOW BROS. 2 SPECIAL $34.99 80 70% 2.4k $84k (exactly $83,976) CRT GAMES
Hoverflow $14.99 150 93% 4.5k $67k (exactly $67,455) Simon In Motion
ZOE Begone! $9.99 141 100% 4.2k $42k (exactly $42,258) Retchy Games
Abyss Runner $6.99 105 86% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,018) Asuwawagami
Ballest of Them All · EA $5.99 110 97% 3.3k $20k (exactly $19,767) Low5ive, Action Jackson
Barro F25 $4.99 117 86% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,515) SC Jogos
FZ: Formation Z $29.99 16 87% 480 $14k (exactly $14,395) Granzella Inc.
Caromble! $12.99 34 73% 1.0k $13k (exactly $13,250) Crimson Owl Studios

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