Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Rhythm

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Rhythm Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Rhythm

Of 57 developers who shipped a Rhythm 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2108 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 74 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 74 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Rhythm
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 57
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $479 → $1.2k → $4.5k → $2.1k → $1.8k → $3.3k (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Rhythm: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 57
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,884)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,190)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538)
Developers, 2 yr 57
Released games 193
Announced 74
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as 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
Rhythm
effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights

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, Rhythm; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Combat
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $27.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $27.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,542 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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

Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M UNBEATABLE 2025 · $5.5M Everhood 2021 · $3.4M Sayonara Wild Hearts 2019 · $3.1M PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hi-Fi RUSH older $29.99 27,454 97% 824k $25M (exactly $24,700,364) Tango Gameworks
UNBEATABLE $27.99 6,552 92% 197k $5.5M (exactly $5,501,714) D-CELL GAMES
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
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Everhood 2 $19.99 2,207 74% 66k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538) Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
Metro Gravity $12.99 852 92% 26k $332k (exactly $332,024) mrkogamedev
Rhythm Sprout: Sick Beats & Bad Sweets older $14.99 619 92% 19k $278k (exactly $278,364) SURT
SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE older $19.99 382 78% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Second Impact Games
Archons $9.99 406 92% 12k $122k (exactly $121,678) BulletHell Studios
Metal: Hellsinger VR $29.99 107 68% 3.2k $96k (exactly $96,268) Lab42, The Outsiders
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
Antro $14.99 42 92% 1.3k $19k (exactly $18,887) Gatera Studio
COLD VR $19.99 28 60% 840 $17k (exactly $16,792) ALLWARE LLC

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