Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Aliens

Of 197 developers who shipped an Alien Action-Adventure 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.. 362 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×425 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 362 games are announced against 94 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 362 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 197
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $629 → $449 → $538 → $719 → $1.3k → $629 → $479 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 197
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 5% $267k (exactly $266,612)
Developers, 2 yr 197
Released games 583
Announced 362
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 flat on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action-Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 26,164 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $260k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 123 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 362 games are announced against 94 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
Dead Space older $59.99 62,997 90% 1.9M $113M (exactly $113,375,701) Motive
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy older $59.99 35,397 93% 1.1M $64M (exactly $63,703,981) Eidos-Montréal
Half-Life older $9.99 117,320 96% 3.5M $35M (exactly $35,160,804) Valve
Aliens: Dark Descent older $39.99 15,310 87% 459k $18M (exactly $18,367,407) Tindalos Interactive
Breathedge older $24.99 14,697 82% 441k $11M (exactly $11,018,341) RedRuins Softworks
Starcom: Unknown Space older $24.99 4,464 92% 134k $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) Wx3 Labs, LLC
Nuclear Nightmare · EA $6.99 15,403 81% 462k $3.2M (exactly $3,230,009) BG Productions
Hidden Deep · EA older $24.99 4,293 76% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) Cogwheel Software
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed older $39.99 2,271 79% 68k $2.7M (exactly $2,724,519) Black Forest Games
High On Life 2 $39.99 2,200 71% 66k $2.6M (exactly $2,639,340) Squanch Games, Inc.
Directive 8020 $49.99 1,337 63% 40k $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) Supermassive Games
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR $39.99 1,340 70% 40k $1.6M (exactly $1,607,598) Survios
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition $29.99 899 72% 27k $809k (exactly $808,830) Survios
Arken Age $39.99 669 90% 20k $803k (exactly $802,599) VitruviusVR
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio
Zexion $19.99 528 90% 16k $317k (exactly $316,642) Gallant Leaf
Sketchy's Contract $8.99 1,027 83% 31k $277k (exactly $276,982) Dimensionless Games

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