Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Roguelite

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelite Action RPG?

Action RPG + Roguelite

Of 443 developers who shipped a Roguelite 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.. 721 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×2.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $860k, ×577 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 721 games are announced against 234 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 721 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Roguelite
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 443
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $4.5k → $3.3k → $6.1k → $5.9k → $4.3k → $1.9k (still earning) → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Roguelite: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 443
Bottom 30% $537 (exactly $537)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,591)
Top 25% $44k (exactly $43,961)
Top 5% $864k (exactly $863,654)
Developers, 2 yr 443
Released games 999
Announced 721
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 20% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Roguelite
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, Roguelite; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action Roguelike, Action, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 366,210 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $43k, 1 in 20 over $860k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 225 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 721 games are announced against 234 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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

Hades 2020 · $214M ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN 2025 · $155M Hades II 2025 · $103M Warhammer: Vermintide 2 2018 · $82M Vampire Survivors 2022 · $38M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hades older $24.99 285,748 97% 8.6M $214M (exactly $214,225,276) Supergiant Games
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN $39.99 129,476 83% 3.9M $155M (exactly $155,332,357) FromSoftware, Inc.
Hades II $29.99 114,419 95% 3.4M $103M (exactly $102,942,774) Supergiant Games
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 older $29.99 91,013 84% 2.7M $82M (exactly $81,884,396) Fatshark
Vampire Survivors older $4.99 251,686 98% 7.6M $38M (exactly $37,677,394) poncle
嗜血印 Bloody Spell older $24.99 34,184 89% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,627,745) 艺龙游戏
Witchfire · EA $39.99 17,131 91% 514k $21M (exactly $20,552,061) The Astronauts
Children of Morta older $21.99 18,213 88% 546k $12M (exactly $12,015,116) Dead Mage
Shape of Dreams $24.99 15,769 89% 473k $12M (exactly $11,822,019) Lizard Smoothie
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
SULFUR · EA $24.99 9,641 87% 289k $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) Perfect Random
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
Realm of Ink $24.99 5,007 90% 150k $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) Leap Studio
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate $29.99 4,143 83% 124k $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) Super Evil Megacorp

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