Games › Action › Action + Villain Protagonist
Should I ship a Villain-Led Action game?
Action + Villain Protagonist
Of 24 developers who shipped a Villain-Led 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.. 56 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $20k, ×31 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×411 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 56 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
|---|---|
| Median | $20k (exactly $19,611) |
| Top 25% | $146k (exactly $146,254) |
| Top 5% | $258k (exactly $258,214) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 160 |
| Announced | 56 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Villain Protagonist
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Gore
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 3,877 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.8k. 5 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 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
Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M 
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League 2024 · $27M 
Maneater 2021 · $26M 
CARRION 2020 · $20M 
Untitled Goose Game 2020 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
| | Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | older | $69.99 | 12,718 60% | 382k | $27M (exactly $26,703,985) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Maneater | older | $39.99 | 21,790 87% | 654k | $26M (exactly $26,141,463) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | CARRION | older | $19.99 | 33,270 94% | 998k | $20M (exactly $19,952,019) | Phobia Game Studio |
| | Untitled Goose Game | older | $19.99 | 22,797 95% | 684k | $14M (exactly $13,671,361) | House House |
 | Prototype 2 | older | $39.99 | 10,389 75% | 312k | $12M (exactly $12,463,683) | Radical Entertainment |
 | Tyranny | older | $29.99 | 9,877 87% | 296k | $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Destroy All Humans! | older | $29.99 | 8,971 92% | 269k | $8.1M (exactly $8,071,209) | Black Forest Games, Pandemic Studios |
 | Aliens vs. Predator™ | older | $14.99 | 16,268 91% | 488k | $7.3M (exactly $7,315,720) | Rebellion |
 | LEGO® DC Super-Villains | older | $39.99 | 5,798 91% | 174k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,861) | TT Games, Feral Interactive (Mac) |
 | Dungeon Warfare 3 | $18.99 | 679 78% | 20k | $387k (exactly $386,826) | Excidium Inc., Valsar | |
 | TORMENTOR | $29.99 | 287 49% | 8.6k | $258k (exactly $258,214) | Madmind Studio | |
 | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games | |
 | Sniper Killer | $11.99 | 618 86% | 19k | $222k (exactly $222,295) | Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare | |
 | Highway Police Simulator | $27.99 | 242 30% | 7.3k | $203k (exactly $203,207) | Z-Software | |
 | YOU ARE THE MONSTER | · EA | $9.99 | 488 69% | 15k | $146k (exactly $146,254) | Joshua Hughes |
 | Relooted | $14.99 | 257 87% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Nyamakop | |
 | Excidio The Kaiju Simulator | $12.99 | 244 92% | 7.3k | $95k (exactly $95,087) | TokuPop | |
 | Munch | $16.66 | 96 60% | 2.9k | $48k (exactly $47,981) | Mac n Cheese Games | |
 | ION Shift | $5.99 | 140 90% | 4.2k | $25k (exactly $25,158) | Electro Soul Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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