Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + LGBTQ+

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Action RPG?

Action RPG + LGBTQ+

Of 44 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ 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.. 78 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $23k, ×16 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $93M, ×62505 the market median. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 78 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 185% on the market, 78 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + LGBTQ+
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $149k → $210k → $51k → $210k → $6.7k → $33k → $23k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + LGBTQ+: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Median $23k (exactly $23,384)
Top 25% $210k (exactly $210,444)
Top 5% $94M (exactly $93,633,032)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 119
Announced 78
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $13.99

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 185% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than 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
LGBTQ+
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Action
Price point
$13.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 379,359 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.2k, median $23k, 1 in 4 over $210k, 1 in 20 over $93M.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.2k. 6 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RPG with a different setting or mood, 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

Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B Hades 2020 · $214M Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M Hades II 2025 · $103M DELTARUNE 2025 · $94M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyberpunk 2077 older $59.99 883,400 87% 27M $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) CD PROJEKT RED
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
DELTARUNE $24.99 124,894 98% 3.7M $94M (exactly $93,633,032) tobyfox
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard $59.99 41,393 67% 1.2M $74M (exactly $74,494,982) BioWare
God of War Ragnarök $59.99 32,502 89% 975k $58M (exactly $58,493,849) Santa Monica Studio, Jetpack Interactive
Far Cry® New Dawn older $39.99 32,169 75% 965k $39M (exactly $38,593,149) Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai)
Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition older $59.99 20,438 87% 613k $37M (exactly $36,782,269) Guerrilla, Nixxes Software
Dragon Age™ Inquisition older $39.99 19,162 75% 575k $23M (exactly $22,988,651) BioWare
Promise Mascot Agency $24.99 2,569 96% 77k $1.9M (exactly $1,925,979) Kaizen Game Works
GreedFall: The Dying World $49.99 1,027 61% 31k $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) Spiders
Eternal Strands $29.99 1,661 87% 50k $1.5M (exactly $1,494,402) Yellow Brick Games
Hell Maiden · EA $9.99 1,834 90% 55k $550k (exactly $549,650) AstralShift
Happy Island Fantasy $14.99 1,186 88% 36k $533k (exactly $533,344) HappyCreator

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