Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Strategy
Should I ship a Strategy Action RPG?
Action RPG + Strategy
Of 262 developers who shipped a Strategy 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.. 520 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 520 games are announced against 144 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper, while revenue is down 10% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) |
| Top 5% | $403k (exactly $402,616) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 262 |
| Released games | 883 |
| Announced | 520 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG, Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 110,463 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 161 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 520 games are announced against 144 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ 2017 · $132M 
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard 2024 · $74M 
Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M 
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition 2021 · $51M 
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS 2025 · $41M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ | older | $49.99 | 87,777 88% | 2.6M | $132M (exactly $131,639,167) | Monolith Productions |
| | Dragon Age™: The Veilguard | $59.99 | 41,393 67% | 1.2M | $74M (exactly $74,494,982) | BioWare | |
| | Metaphor: ReFantazio | $69.99 | 25,224 89% | 757k | $53M (exactly $52,962,833) | ATLUS | |
| | Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition | older | $49.99 | 34,157 83% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,225,253) | Owlcat Games |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS | $69.99 | 19,578 92% | 587k | $41M (exactly $41,107,927) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Far Cry® Primal | older | $29.99 | 38,798 86% | 1.2M | $35M (exactly $34,906,561) | Ubisoft |
 | Wandering Sword | older | $24.99 | 37,034 94% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,764,390) | The Swordman Studio |
 | Dragon Age™ Inquisition | older | $39.99 | 19,162 75% | 575k | $23M (exactly $22,988,651) | BioWare |
 | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
 | Black Desert | older | $9.99 | 63,052 75% | 1.9M | $19M (exactly $18,896,684) | Pearl Abyss |
 | Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition | $39.99 | 5,855 86% | 176k | $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) | Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. | |
 | Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms | · EA | $19.99 | 6,652 88% | 200k | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) | Free Wing |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Pax Autocratica | · EA | $29.99 | 3,202 91% | 96k | $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) | Multiverse |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Wanderburg | · EA | $14.99 | 2,103 78% | 63k | $946k (exactly $945,719) | Randwerk |
 | Metal Slug Tactics | $24.99 | 1,152 76% | 35k | $864k (exactly $863,654) | Leikir Studio |
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.