Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Thriller
Of 430 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 616 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×240 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 616 games are announced against 215 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $151k (exactly $150,576) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 430 |
| Released games | 938 |
| Announced | 616 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Thriller
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
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, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 60,721 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 252 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 616 games are announced against 215 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
The Last of Us™ Part I 2023 · $117M 
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach 2021 · $78M 
The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered 2025 · $51M 
Little Nightmares II 2021 · $45M 
A Plague Tale: Requiem 2022 · $31M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Last of Us™ Part I | older | $59.99 | 65,259 85% | 2.0M | $117M (exactly $117,446,622) | Naughty Dog LLC, Iron Galaxy Studios |
| | Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach | older | $39.99 | 65,350 86% | 2.0M | $78M (exactly $78,400,395) | Steel Wool Studios |
| | The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered | $49.99 | 34,252 90% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,367,724) | Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron… (Naughty Dog LLC, Nixxes Software, Iron Galaxy Studios) | |
| | Little Nightmares II | older | $29.99 | 50,280 92% | 1.5M | $45M (exactly $45,236,916) | Tarsier Studios |
| | A Plague Tale: Requiem | older | $49.99 | 20,797 90% | 624k | $31M (exactly $31,189,261) | Asobo Studio |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic | $39.99 | 10,874 86% | 326k | $13M (exactly $13,045,538) | Steel Wool Studios | |
 | Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter | older | $29.99 | 12,076 80% | 362k | $11M (exactly $10,864,777) | Frogwares |
 | Choo-Choo Charles | older | $19.99 | 16,292 91% | 489k | $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) | Two Star Games |
 | The Sinking City Remastered | older | $39.99 | 5,361 75% | 161k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,592) | Frogwares |
 | Sherlock Holmes Chapter One | older | $44.99 | 4,189 77% | 126k | $5.7M (exactly $5,653,893) | Frogwares |
 | FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE | $49.99 | 2,663 87% | 80k | $4.0M (exactly $3,993,701) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies | $39.99 | 2,911 83% | 87k | $3.5M (exactly $3,492,327) | ZA/UM | |
 | Zoochosis | $24.99 | 2,200 60% | 66k | $1.6M (exactly $1,649,340) | Clapperheads | |
 | Subliminal | $9.99 | 3,535 74% | 106k | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) | Accidental Studios | |
 | Incantation | $16.99 | 1,106 73% | 33k | $564k (exactly $563,728) | SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT | |
 | Garten of Banban 8: Anti Devil | $9.99 | 1,574 88% | 47k | $472k (exactly $471,728) | Euphoric Brothers | |
 | Clawed | $19.99 | 729 52% | 22k | $437k (exactly $437,181) | Flatrock Games | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.