Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Exploration

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Exploration Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Exploration

Of 293 developers who shipped an Exploration Action Roguelike 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.. 602 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×1411 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 602 games are announced against 178 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 602 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Exploration
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 293
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $49k → $3.1k → $1.8k → $1.9k → $1.8k → $1.4k → $1.5k (still earning) → $700 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Exploration: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 293
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,436)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,198)
Top 5% $670k (exactly $670,441)
Developers, 2 yr 293
Released games 621
Announced 602
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 flat on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Exploration
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Action Roguelike, Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 829,616 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $670k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 130 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 602 games are announced against 178 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomanceStrong odds22 devs · median $6.5k · 17 announced
  2. + Creature CollectorFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  3. + SportsFair41 devs · median $1.6k · 39 announced
  4. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + VampiresFair55 devs · median $1.3k · 52 announced
  6. + IdlerFair44 devs · median $1.0k · 55 announced
  7. + DogsFair19 devs · median $899 · 18 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerFair36 devs · median $629 · 38 announced
  9. + FaithFair16 devs · median $449 · 21 announced
  10. + Character Action GamePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $12k · 14 announced
  12. + MechsPoor odds44 devs · median $12k · 85 announced

All 205 pairs on the Action Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M R.E.P.O. 2025 · EA · $102M PEAK 2025 · $72M Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M Witchfire 2024 · EA · $21M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
R.E.P.O. · EA $9.99 341,004 96% 10M $102M (exactly $102,198,899) semiwork
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
Witchfire · EA $39.99 17,131 91% 514k $21M (exactly $20,552,061) The Astronauts
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Ravenswatch $24.99 16,908 79% 507k $13M (exactly $12,675,928) Passtech Games
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core · EA $29.99 14,049 60% 421k $13M (exactly $12,639,885) Ghost Ship Games
Moonlighter older $19.99 17,286 82% 519k $10M (exactly $10,366,414) Digital Sun
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
Gamble With Your Friends $7.99 18,883 89% 566k $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) TEAM GWYF
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault $29.99 3,146 80% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) Digital Sun

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