Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Action RPG?

Action RPG + Arcade

Of 215 developers who shipped an Arcade Action RPG 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.. 294 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $230. 294 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper, while revenue is up 95% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 95% on the market, 294 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 215
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.0k → $2.2k → $2.4k → $1.2k → $898 → $449 → $1.0k (still earning) → $2.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 215
Bottom 30% $228 (exactly $228)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,040)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,193)
Top 5% $512k (exactly $512,045)
Developers, 2 yr 215
Released games 632
Announced 294
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 95% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action RPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RPG, Arcade; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 88,466 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $230, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $510k.

3 in 10 developers made under $230. 8 in 10 of the 125 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 294 games are announced against 109 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + NavalFair17 devs · median $15k · 11 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  3. + WesternFair13 devs · median $5.5k · 15 announced
  4. + Local MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorLong shot35 devs · median $450 · 33 announced
  6. + WuxiaPoor odds7 devs · median $198k · 28 announced
  7. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  8. + MechsPoor odds21 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  9. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  10. + Dating SimPoor odds31 devs · median $44k · 47 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds23 devs · median $26k · 69 announced
  12. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced

All 211 pairs on the Action RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Street Fighter™ 6 2023 · $60M Vampire Survivors 2022 · $38M Sifu 2023 · $26M Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M Minecraft Dungeons 2021 · $11M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Street Fighter™ 6 older $39.99 49,952 81% 1.5M $60M (exactly $59,927,414) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Vampire Survivors older $4.99 251,686 98% 7.6M $38M (exactly $37,677,394) poncle
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Minecraft Dungeons older $19.99 17,941 90% 538k $11M (exactly $10,759,218) Mojang Studios, ‪Double Eleven
Nova Drift older $17.99 12,975 95% 389k $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) Chimeric
Yet Another Zombie Survivors $14.99 14,123 91% 424k $6.4M (exactly $6,351,113) Awesome Games Studio
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
Magicka older $9.99 19,174 84% 575k $5.7M (exactly $5,746,448) Arrowhead Game Studios
Gauntlet™ Slayer Edition older $19.99 6,690 81% 201k $4.0M (exactly $4,011,993) Arrowhead Game Studios
Path of Kung Fu $14.99 4,880 72% 146k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) 游鲤化龙工作室
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
Wanderburg · EA $14.99 2,103 78% 63k $946k (exactly $945,719) Randwerk
Dwarven Realms $9.99 2,850 81% 86k $854k (exactly $854,145) Crater Studios
NIMRODS · EA $9.99 1,783 85% 53k $534k (exactly $534,365) Fiveamp
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio

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