Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Real-Time
Should I ship a Real-Time Action RPG?
Action RPG + Real-Time
Only 5 developers shipped a Real-Time Action RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Tower of Mask, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 4 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
Only 1 developer shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $6.7k against a market of $1.5k. 4 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $32,384) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,703) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 5 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 4 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 75% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, 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
- Real-Time
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG, Real-Time
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 23,284 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 4 games are announced against 1 developer who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
She Will Punish Them 2020 · EA · $8.2M 
Shadows: Awakening 2018 · $1.4M 
Vaporum 2017 · $599k 
Nevergrind Online 2024 · $586k 
WARTILE 2018 · $360k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | She Will Punish Them | · EA older | $15.99 | 17,164 86% | 515k | $8.2M (exactly $8,233,571) | L2 Games |
| | Shadows: Awakening | older | $29.99 | 1,535 75% | 46k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,040) | Games Farm |
| | Vaporum | older | $19.99 | 998 84% | 30k | $599k (exactly $598,501) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
| | Nevergrind Online | older | $15.99 | 1,221 86% | 37k | $586k (exactly $585,714) | Neverworks Games |
| | WARTILE | older | $19.99 | 601 75% | 18k | $360k (exactly $360,420) | Playwood Project |
 | Earth 2160 | older | $9.99 | 754 70% | 23k | $226k (exactly $225,974) | Reality Pump Studios |
 | Drox Operative 2 | older | $19.99 | 275 89% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Soldak Entertainment |
 | Tower of Mask | $10.99 | 357 95% | 11k | $118k (exactly $117,703) | Papertip Studio | |
 | Zombasite | older | $19.99 | 194 76% | 5.8k | $116k (exactly $116,342) | Soldak Entertainment |
 | Din's Legacy | older | $19.99 | 185 77% | 5.6k | $111k (exactly $110,944) | Soldak Entertainment |
 | WARSHIFT 2 | $19.99 | 54 70% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Cyril Megem | |
 | Remnants of the Rift | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Bromio | |
 | RAIDING PARTY | · EA | $14.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Skull Splitter Studios |
 | Kraktures | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Deggy |
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.