Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Sandbox
Should I ship a Sandbox Action RPG?
Action RPG + Sandbox
Of 114 developers who shipped a Sandbox 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.. 354 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×3.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×1306 the market median. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 354 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) |
| Top 25% | $179k (exactly $179,310) |
| Top 5% | $2.0M (exactly $1,955,802) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 424 |
| Announced | 354 |
| 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 85% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Sandbox
- 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, Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Open World, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 56,136 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 354 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 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 Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition 2015 · $1.2B 
Fallout 4 2015 · $174M 
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal 2023 · $114M 
Enshrouded 2024 · EA · $112M 
Kenshi 2018 · $89M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 823,357 96% | 25M | $1.2B (exactly $1,234,788,493) | CD PROJEKT RED |
| | Fallout 4 | older | $19.99 | 290,555 81% | 8.7M | $174M (exactly $174,245,834) | Bethesda Game Studios |
| | 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal | older | $19.99 | 190,184 56% | 5.7M | $114M (exactly $114,053,345) | 鬼谷工作室 |
| | Enshrouded | · EA older | $39.99 | 93,426 85% | 2.8M | $112M (exactly $112,083,172) | Keen Games GmbH |
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
 | Fallout: New Vegas | older | $9.99 | 211,748 95% | 6.4M | $63M (exactly $63,460,876) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Far Cry® 4 | older | $29.99 | 68,485 84% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $61,615,954) | Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai,… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai, Toronto, Kiev) |
 | Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™ | older | $19.99 | 63,815 92% | 1.9M | $38M (exactly $38,269,856) | Monolith Productions |
 | Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition | older | $19.99 | 44,010 81% | 1.3M | $26M (exactly $26,392,797) | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
 | Shadows of Doubt | $24.99 | 14,646 82% | 439k | $11M (exactly $10,980,106) | ColePowered Games | |
 | VEIN | · EA | $19.99 | 11,539 87% | 346k | $6.9M (exactly $6,919,938) | Ramjet Studios |
 | Farever | · EA | $19.99 | 8,968 75% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) | Shiro Games |
 | Everwind | · EA | $24.99 | 3,454 81% | 104k | $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) | Enjoy Studio S.A. |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | Romestead | · EA | $13.99 | 4,660 76% | 140k | $2.0M (exactly $1,955,802) | Beartwigs |
 | Towers of Aghasba | · EA | $29.99 | 1,904 67% | 57k | $1.7M (exactly $1,713,029) | Dreamlit inc. |
 | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games | |
 | Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms | $34.99 | 1,559 72% | 47k | $1.6M (exactly $1,636,482) | Gamera Interactive | |
 | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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