Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Metroidvania
Should I ship a Metroidvania Action Roguelike?
Action Roguelike + Metroidvania
Of 38 developers who shipped a Metroidvania 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.. 82 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×655 the market median. Revenue is up 365% on the market; 82 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,142) |
| Top 5% | $311k (exactly $311,192) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 112 |
| Announced | 82 |
| 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 up 365% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Action Roguelike, Metroidvania; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 11,202 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + SportsFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + VampiresFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DogsFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + FaithFair
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
Comparable games
Dead Cells 2018 · $117M 
Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M 
Rogue Legacy 2 2022 · $11M 
Have a Nice Death 2023 · $7.3M 
Rogue Legacy 2013 · $7.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dead Cells | older | $24.99 | 156,263 97% | 4.7M | $117M (exactly $117,150,371) | Motion Twin |
| | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
| | Rogue Legacy 2 | older | $24.99 | 14,238 90% | 427k | $11M (exactly $10,674,229) | Cellar Door Games |
| | Have a Nice Death | older | $24.99 | 9,729 85% | 292k | $7.3M (exactly $7,293,831) | Magic Design Studios |
| | Rogue Legacy | older | $14.99 | 15,877 92% | 476k | $7.1M (exactly $7,139,887) | Cellar Door Games |
 | Windblown | · EA | $24.99 | 9,066 88% | 272k | $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) | Motion Twin |
 | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
 | Sundered®: Eldritch Edition | older | $19.99 | 4,094 81% | 123k | $2.5M (exactly $2,455,172) | Thunder Lotus |
 | Vagante | older | $14.99 | 4,118 90% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,865) | Nuke Nine |
 | 9 Years of Shadows | older | $19.99 | 2,291 79% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,373,913) | Halberd Studios |
 | Dunjungle | $14.99 | 692 96% | 21k | $311k (exactly $311,192) | Bruno Bombardi | |
 | Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse | $16.99 | 543 72% | 16k | $277k (exactly $276,767) | Frontside 180 | |
 | HOTEL BARCELONA | $29.99 | 269 71% | 8.1k | $242k (exactly $242,019) | White Owls Inc. | |
 | Mark of the Deep | $19.99 | 229 73% | 6.9k | $137k (exactly $137,331) | Mad Mimic | |
 | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
 | Aura of Worlds | $14.99 | 101 96% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $45,420) | Cognitive Forge | |
 | An Amazing Wizard | · EA | $11.99 | 98 83% | 2.9k | $35k (exactly $35,251) | Tiny Goblins |
 | face the immortal | · EA | $17.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $22k (exactly $22,128) | DY |
 | Rusty Rangers | $14.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Fantastica! |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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