Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Music

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Music Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Music

Of 23 developers who shipped a Music 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.. 37 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×21 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2108 the market median. Revenue is up 5320% on the market; 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 21.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 5320% on the market, 37 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Music
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $278k → $229k → $5.8k → $5.8k → $13k
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Music: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $13k (exactly $13,486)
Top 25% $148k (exactly $148,008)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 81
Announced 37
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 5320% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Music
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Rhythm
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 11,998 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $140k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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

Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M Ghostrunner 2 2023 · $9.6M In Sound Mind 2021 · $5.7M UNBEATABLE 2025 · $5.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Black Myth: Wukong older $59.99 881,186 96% 26M $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) Game Science
Hi-Fi RUSH older $29.99 27,454 97% 824k $25M (exactly $24,700,364) Tango Gameworks
Ghostrunner 2 older $39.99 7,981 80% 239k $9.6M (exactly $9,574,806) One More Level
In Sound Mind older $34.99 5,467 95% 164k $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) We Create Stuff
UNBEATABLE $27.99 6,552 92% 197k $5.5M (exactly $5,501,714) D-CELL GAMES
Brutal Legend older $14.99 11,365 94% 341k $5.1M (exactly $5,110,840) Double Fine Productions
Everhood older $9.99 11,436 95% 343k $3.4M (exactly $3,427,369) Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca
Sayonara Wild Hearts older $12.99 8,023 96% 241k $3.1M (exactly $3,126,563) Simogo
The Pathless older $39.99 1,944 90% 58k $2.3M (exactly $2,332,217) Giant Squid
Everhood 2 $19.99 2,207 74% 66k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538) Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca
KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE $34.99 494 93% 15k $519k (exactly $518,552) KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO, orange
Wheel World $19.99 735 90% 22k $441k (exactly $440,779) Messhof
Metro Gravity $12.99 852 92% 26k $332k (exactly $332,024) mrkogamedev
Star Overdrive $34.99 141 87% 4.2k $148k (exactly $148,008) Caracal Games
Dark Pals: The 1st Floor $6.70 700 87% 21k $141k (exactly $140,700) Skunx Games
Nientum - Op.ZERO · EA $19.99 159 98% 4.8k $95k (exactly $95,352) QueseraGames
Steel Century Groove $19.99 98 94% 2.9k $59k (exactly $58,771) Sloth Gloss Games
Look Mum No Computer $14.99 60 98% 1.8k $27k (exactly $26,982) The Bitfather

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