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Should I ship an Action-Adventure Character Action Game?
Character Action Game + Action-Adventure
Of 23 developers who shipped an Action-Adventure Character 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.. 93 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $58k, ×39 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.9M, ×3293 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 93 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.0k (exactly $2,998) |
|---|---|
| Median | $58k (exactly $58,171) |
| Top 25% | $741k (exactly $741,415) |
| Top 5% | $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 276 |
| Announced | 93 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Character Action Game
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Character Action Game, Action-Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Gore
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 19,349 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 4 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Action Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + ShooterPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + Beat 'em upPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + Action RoguelikePoor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
Comparable games
SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M 
Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M 
NINJA GAIDEN 4 2025 · $18M 
KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX- 2024 · $16M 
Evil West 2022 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
| | NINJA GAIDEN 4 | $69.99 | 8,459 88% | 254k | $18M (exactly $17,761,362) | PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI… (PlatinumGames Inc. / Team NINJA / KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.) | |
| | KINGDOM HEARTS -HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX- | older | $49.99 | 10,471 86% | 314k | $16M (exactly $15,703,359) | Square Enix |
| | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 7,998 80% | 240k | $7.2M (exactly $7,195,801) | MercurySteam, Climax Studios |
 | Steelrising | older | $49.99 | 4,568 73% | 137k | $6.9M (exactly $6,850,630) | Spiders |
 | NINJA GAIDEN 2 Black | $49.99 | 3,289 78% | 99k | $4.9M (exactly $4,932,513) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | KINGDOM HEARTS III + Re Mind (DLC) | older | $59.99 | 2,535 89% | 76k | $4.6M (exactly $4,562,240) | Square Enix |
 | VLADiK BRUTAL | older | $11.99 | 9,551 89% | 287k | $3.4M (exactly $3,435,495) | BRUTAL SOFTWARE |
 | ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN | $49.99 | 2,059 87% | 62k | $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) | GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. | |
 | Lost Soul Aside™ | $59.99 | 1,307 59% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) | Ultizero Games | |
 | Aeruta | $19.99 | 2,391 94% | 72k | $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) | FromDawn Games | |
 | Mahou Arms | $39.99 | 618 73% | 19k | $741k (exactly $741,415) | Dischan Media | |
 | Cybernetic Fault | $14.99 | 679 78% | 20k | $305k (exactly $305,346) | Whale Rock Games | |
 | MySims™ | $39.99 | 209 86% | 6.3k | $251k (exactly $250,737) | Maxis | |
 | MySims™ Kingdom | $39.99 | 120 93% | 3.6k | $144k (exactly $143,964) | Maxis | |
 | Genokids | · EA | $19.99 | 218 98% | 6.5k | $131k (exactly $130,735) | Nukefist |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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