Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + CRPG
Should I ship a CRPG Action RPG?
Action RPG + CRPG
Of 131 developers who shipped a CRPG 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.. 266 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×392 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 266 games are announced against 71 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,771) |
| Top 5% | $587k (exactly $587,015) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 424 |
| Announced | 266 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
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
- CRPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG, CRPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 60,859 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 266 games are announced against 71 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NavalFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + WesternFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + Walking SimulatorLong shot
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dragon Age™: The Veilguard | $59.99 | 41,393 67% | 1.2M | $74M (exactly $74,494,982) | BioWare | |
| | Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition | older | $49.99 | 34,157 83% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,225,253) | Owlcat Games |
| | Gujian3(古剑奇谭三) | older | $29.99 | 40,829 85% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,733,851) | 上海烛龙信息科技有限公司, Aurogon Shanghai |
| | Sword and Fairy 7 | older | $29.99 | 15,567 72% | 467k | $14M (exactly $14,005,630) | 软星科技(SoftStarlight) |
| | Drova - Forsaken Kin | $24.99 | 9,455 93% | 284k | $7.1M (exactly $7,088,414) | Just2D | |
| | Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 7,859 90% | 236k | $4.7M (exactly $4,713,042) | Beamdog |
| | Wasteland 2: Director's Cut | older | $29.99 | 4,664 82% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,196,201) | inXile Entertainment |
| | Caribbean Legend | older | $39.99 | 2,860 74% | 86k | $3.4M (exactly $3,431,142) | BlackMark Studio |
| | Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 4,735 94% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) | Beamdog |
| | Divinity II: Developer's Cut | older | $19.99 | 4,512 84% | 135k | $2.7M (exactly $2,705,846) | Larian Studios |
| | Guild Wars® Reforged | $19.99 | 3,265 87% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,958,020) | ArenaNet® | |
| | Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms | $34.99 | 1,559 72% | 47k | $1.6M (exactly $1,636,482) | Gamera Interactive | |
| | GreedFall: The Dying World | $49.99 | 1,027 61% | 31k | $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) | Spiders | |
| | Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection | $39.99 | 657 96% | 20k | $788k (exactly $788,203) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy | $24.99 | 783 75% | 23k | $587k (exactly $587,015) | AtomTeam | |
| | Happy Island Fantasy | $14.99 | 1,186 88% | 36k | $533k (exactly $533,344) | HappyCreator | |
| | Gedonia 2 | · EA | $14.99 | 896 82% | 27k | $403k (exactly $402,931) | Kazakov Oleg |
| | Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates | $19.99 | 638 70% | 19k | $383k (exactly $382,609) | ReCon Team |
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.