Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + Steampunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Steampunk Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Steampunk

Of 27 developers who shipped a Steampunk 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.. 108 more are announced, ×6.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $34k, ×55 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 108 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 108 announced, ×6.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Steampunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $57k → $11k → $1.3k → $1.3k → $15k → $719 (still earning) → $959 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Steampunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,679)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,998)
Top 5% $35k (exactly $34,627)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 92
Announced 108
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 down 65% on the market, supply 45% more 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
Steampunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 461 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 $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $34k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.8 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
FAR: Lone Sails older $14.99 24,474 95% 734k $11M (exactly $11,005,958) Okomotive
TEVI older $29.99 3,580 88% 107k $3.2M (exactly $3,220,926) CreSpirit, GemaYue, Ein Lee
F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch older $15.99 6,660 86% 200k $3.2M (exactly $3,194,802) TiGames
DARQ: Complete Edition older $19.99 3,575 94% 107k $2.1M (exactly $2,143,928) Unfold Games
Little Noah: Scion of Paradise older $14.99 2,172 92% 65k $977k (exactly $976,748) Cygames, Inc., Grounding Inc.
Vaporum older $19.99 998 84% 30k $599k (exactly $598,501) Fatbot Games, s. r. o.
Iron Danger older $19.99 544 73% 16k $326k (exactly $326,237) Action Squad Studios
Teslagrad 2 older $19.99 419 76% 13k $251k (exactly $251,274) Rain Games
The Falconeer: Revolution Remaster older $19.99 416 81% 12k $249k (exactly $249,475) Tomas Sala
Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain older $6.99 1,087 66% 33k $228k (exactly $227,944) ·
Clockwork Ambrosia $19.99 133 84% 4.0k $80k (exactly $79,760) Realmsoft
Last Vanguard $14.99 77 81% 2.3k $35k (exactly $34,627) Cool Tapir Studios
Sacre Bleu $14.99 46 82% 1.4k $21k (exactly $20,686) Hildring Studio Inc
Sea Walker Saga · EA $9.99 66 93% 2.0k $20k (exactly $19,780) Antelus Games
Void Sails $9.99 49 69% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,685) Ticking Clock Games
City of Springs $6.99 38 86% 1.1k $8.0k (exactly $7,969) The Naked Dev, Alterego Games
Wings of Aviora · EA $24.99 8 87% 240 $6.0k (exactly $5,998) Stormy XP
Augmented Empire $7.99 25 88% 750 $6.0k (exactly $5,992) Coatsink
Knuckle Jet $14.99 13 92% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Rain Games
Terra Alia VR: A Multilingual Adventure $19.99 6 66% 180 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) 30 Parallel

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