Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Villain Protagonist
Should I ship a Villain-Led Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Villain Protagonist
Only 12 developers shipped a Villain-Led Action-Adventure in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Sniper Killer, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $17k, ×26 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×354 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 26 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) |
|---|---|
| Median | $17k (exactly $16,519) |
| Top 25% | $146k (exactly $146,254) |
| Top 5% | $222k (exactly $222,295) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 26 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 2%, 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
- Villain Protagonist
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 1,871 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.1k. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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
- + Naval CombatPoor odds
Comparable games
Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M 
Maneater 2021 · $26M 
LEGO® DC Super-Villains 2018 · $7.0M 
Pumpkin Jack 2020 · $6.7M 
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed 2022 · $2.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
| | Maneater | older | $39.99 | 21,790 87% | 654k | $26M (exactly $26,141,463) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | LEGO® DC Super-Villains | older | $39.99 | 5,798 91% | 174k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,861) | TT Games, Feral Interactive (Mac) |
| | Pumpkin Jack | older | $29.99 | 7,416 91% | 222k | $6.7M (exactly $6,672,175) | Evil Raptor |
| | Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed | older | $39.99 | 2,271 79% | 68k | $2.7M (exactly $2,724,519) | Black Forest Games |
 | Overlord II | older | $9.99 | 4,002 89% | 120k | $1.2M (exactly $1,199,399) | Triumph Studios |
 | Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse | older | $19.99 | 1,781 89% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,068,066) | Aspyr |
 | Overlord™ | older | $4.99 | 5,007 94% | 150k | $750k (exactly $749,548) | Triumph Studios |
 | Overlord™: Raising Hell | older | $9.99 | 1,994 92% | 60k | $598k (exactly $597,602) | Triumph Studios |
 | OVERLORD: ESCAPE FROM NAZARICK | older | $29.99 | 505 65% | 15k | $454k (exactly $454,348) | ENGINES Inc. |
 | Sniper Killer | $11.99 | 618 86% | 19k | $222k (exactly $222,295) | Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare | |
 | Highway Police Simulator | $27.99 | 242 30% | 7.3k | $203k (exactly $203,207) | Z-Software | |
 | YOU ARE THE MONSTER | · EA | $9.99 | 488 69% | 15k | $146k (exactly $146,254) | Joshua Hughes |
 | Relooted | $14.99 | 257 87% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Nyamakop | |
 | Stranger Things VR | $24.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $22k (exactly $22,491) | Tender Claws | |
 | SECTOR ZERO | $3.99 | 138 93% | 4.1k | $17k (exactly $16,519) | Ondrej Angelovic | |
 | Vindefiant | $14.99 | 31 80% | 930 | $14k (exactly $13,941) | Blakey Games | |
 | Toastercide | $9.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | The Chairman | |
 | Shoe it All! | $7.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) | Amberbite | |
 | Cat Nips | $4.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) | firminou |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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