Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Action RPG?

Action RPG + Traditional Roguelike

Of 23 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike 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.. 25 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 16 developers shipped in the last year and 25 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $133k → $3.8k → $0 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,302)
Top 5% $133k (exactly $133,067)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 44
Announced 25
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 95% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Traditional Roguelike
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, Traditional Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action Roguelike, RPG, Action
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,435 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die 2025 · $573k Fate Seeker: Journey 2022 · $332k Blazing Aries 2022 · $209k WazHack 2014 · $176k Dredgers 2019 · $169k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die $24.99 764 84% 23k $573k (exactly $572,771) Stormteller Games
Fate Seeker: Journey older $10.00 1,105 77% 33k $332k (exactly $331,500) JSL Entertainment
Blazing Aries older $18.99 366 87% 11k $209k (exactly $208,510) Kuroto Zakka
WazHack older $9.99 586 89% 18k $176k (exactly $175,624) Waz
Dredgers older $11.99 471 88% 14k $169k (exactly $169,419) Pirate-Rob
Reignbreaker $9.99 444 75% 13k $133k (exactly $133,067) Studio Fizbin
Gods Wars : infinity Epic $9.99 70 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $20,979) YCGame
Senpai and the Mysterious Dungeon older $13.99 40 67% 1.2k $17k (exactly $16,788) Ruhut Soft
Dark Bone Prison $5.99 84 95% 2.5k $15k (exactly $15,095) Bunny Moon Shady
Lost in Dungeon / 地牢迷失者 · EA older $4.99 66 65% 2.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,880) GOCORE
Cult of Shadows $14.99 11 72% 330 $4.9k (exactly $4,947) Squirrel Tail Games
Trial of Ariah $11.95 12 91% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,302) 30 Minute Games
Chronos Trap in Time $12.99 11 100% 330 $4.3k (exactly $4,287) SCS Ogonvard AB
[English] AbsentedAge 2: Ghostbound $15.99 8 100% 240 $3.8k (exactly $3,838) terunon's Lab
光域 $2.99 20 95% 600 $1.8k (exactly $1,794) 幻霁网络科技有限公司
いそげヒーロー $2.99 11 90% 330 $987 (exactly $987) Menon

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