Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Arcade

Of 667 developers who shipped an Arcade 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.. 878 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 350 developers shipped in the last year and 878 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 878 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 667
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $807 → $898 → $959 → $479 → $446 → $449 → $359 (still earning) → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 667
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,398)
Top 5% $72k (exactly $71,502)
Developers, 2 yr 667
Released games 2,211
Announced 878
Effort 6 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply as many developers as 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
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, 2D
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 89% positive over 53,164 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $71k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 409 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 878 games are announced against 350 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different second tag, 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

Sifu 2023 · $26M Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds 2025 · $24M Psychonauts 2 2021 · $22M Sonic Mania 2017 · $15M Minecraft Dungeons 2021 · $11M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds $69.99 11,479 93% 344k $24M (exactly $24,102,456) Sonic Team
Psychonauts 2 older $59.99 12,333 95% 370k $22M (exactly $22,195,700) Double Fine Productions
Sonic Mania older $19.99 24,338 94% 730k $15M (exactly $14,595,499) Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, Pagoda… (Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, PagodaWest Games)
Minecraft Dungeons older $19.99 17,941 90% 538k $11M (exactly $10,759,218) Mojang Studios, ‪Double Eleven
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge older $24.99 12,961 94% 389k $9.7M (exactly $9,716,862) Tribute Games Inc.
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
Absolum $24.99 9,399 91% 282k $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
UNBEATABLE $27.99 6,552 92% 197k $5.5M (exactly $5,501,714) D-CELL GAMES
Journey To The Savage Planet older $29.99 5,674 87% 170k $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) Typhoon
Invincible VS $49.99 3,031 76% 91k $4.5M (exactly $4,545,591) Quarter Up
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion $29.99 2,298 88% 69k $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) Tribute Games Inc.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide $39.99 1,151 93% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,380,855) Purple Lamp
STORROR Parkour Pro · EA $24.99 1,605 71% 48k $1.2M (exactly $1,203,268) Hole in the Sleeve Game Studios
Dwarven Realms $9.99 2,850 81% 86k $854k (exactly $854,145) Crater Studios
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios

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