Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Superhero
Should I ship a Superhero Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Superhero
Of 33 developers who shipped a Superhero 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.. 68 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210. 68 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 30% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $28,472) |
| Top 5% | $18M (exactly $18,326,182) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 68 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Superhero
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action-Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Combat
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Comic Book, 3D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 50,062 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered | older | $59.99 | 101,879 96% | 3.1M | $183M (exactly $183,351,636) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | older | $59.99 | 35,397 93% | 1.1M | $64M (exactly $63,703,981) | Eidos-Montréal |
| | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 | $59.99 | 33,433 83% | 1.0M | $60M (exactly $60,169,370) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software | |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | older | $49.99 | 39,234 93% | 1.2M | $59M (exactly $58,839,230) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition | older | $19.99 | 62,057 96% | 1.9M | $37M (exactly $37,215,583) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition | older | $19.99 | 55,935 95% | 1.7M | $34M (exactly $33,544,219) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Gotham Knights | older | $59.99 | 15,688 68% | 471k | $28M (exactly $28,233,694) | Warner Bros. Games Montréal, QLOC |
| | Batman™: Arkham Origins | older | $19.99 | 45,536 90% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,307,939) | WB Games Montreal, Splash Damage |
| | LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight | $69.99 | 8,728 95% | 262k | $18M (exactly $18,326,182) | TT Games | |
| | Prototype™ | older | $19.99 | 12,518 80% | 376k | $7.5M (exactly $7,507,045) | Radical Entertainment |
| | Invincible VS | $49.99 | 3,031 76% | 91k | $4.5M (exactly $4,545,591) | Quarter Up | |
| | Lost Soul Aside™ | $59.99 | 1,307 59% | 39k | $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) | Ultizero Games | |
| | MARVEL Cosmic Invasion | $29.99 | 2,298 88% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) | Tribute Games Inc. | |
| | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
| | Infinite Lives | $14.99 | 217 76% | 6.5k | $98k (exactly $97,585) | MDickie | |
| | Taiwan Coolfox | $24.99 | 57 78% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $42,733) | TSAI,JIE-TING 蔡杰廷, TSAI,KAI-SHIUN 蔡凱勛 | |
| | Kijutsu Rider | $9.99 | 95 56% | 2.9k | $28k (exactly $28,472) | OmegaMechAnimations | |
| | Lethal Honor - Order of the Apocalypse | $24.99 | 29 96% | 870 | $22k (exactly $21,741) | Viral Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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