Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Resource Management
Should I ship a Resource Management Action RPG?
Action RPG + Resource Management
Of 54 developers who shipped a Resource Management 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.. 159 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×156 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 159 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,256) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,510) |
| Top 5% | $233k (exactly $233,283) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 130 |
| Announced | 159 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG, Resource Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 4,334 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 159 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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
The Riftbreaker 2021 · $20M 
ASKA 2024 · EA · $7.8M 
Chef RPG 2024 · EA · $1.6M 
Niffelheim 2018 · $1.1M 
Regions Of Ruin 2018 · $709k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
| | ASKA | · EA older | $24.99 | 10,457 79% | 314k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,613) | Sand Sailor Studio |
| | Chef RPG | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,593 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,555,022) | World 2 Studio |
| | Niffelheim | older | $19.99 | 1,820 73% | 55k | $1.1M (exactly $1,091,454) | Ellada Games |
| | Regions Of Ruin | older | $11.99 | 1,972 84% | 59k | $709k (exactly $709,328) | Gameclaw Studio |
 | Noobs Want to Live | older | $4.99 | 4,593 89% | 138k | $688k (exactly $687,572) | 元气弹工作室(GD Studio) |
 | Nevergrind Online | older | $15.99 | 1,221 86% | 37k | $586k (exactly $585,714) | Neverworks Games |
 | Noble Legacy | · EA | $24.99 | 744 70% | 22k | $558k (exactly $557,777) | Ultimus Rex LLC |
 | 道衍诀 | · EA older | $11.99 | 988 49% | 30k | $355k (exactly $355,384) | 宁德动游网络科技有限公司 |
 | Heaven Dust 2 | older | $14.99 | 771 90% | 23k | $347k (exactly $346,719) | One Gruel Studio |
 | Machine Mind | $19.99 | 567 71% | 17k | $340k (exactly $340,030) | Chudo-Yudo Games | |
 | Regions of Ruin: Runegate | $19.99 | 389 84% | 12k | $233k (exactly $233,283) | Gameclaw Studio | |
 | Legionbound | $9.99 | 671 83% | 20k | $201k (exactly $201,099) | Spicy Garlic Games | |
 | Eventide Matter | $5.99 | 927 95% | 28k | $167k (exactly $166,582) | Ottropi Games | |
 | Latex & Tentacles | $10.99 | 343 67% | 10k | $113k (exactly $113,087) | ZXC, GODNASK | |
 | Farmagia | $49.99 | 63 46% | 1.9k | $94k (exactly $94,481) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Raid Auctus | $4.99 | 423 56% | 13k | $63k (exactly $63,323) | Cosmic Whale Studio | |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | Tales of Old: Dominus | $14.99 | 129 47% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Hvmana Industries MMD |
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.