Do I ship it?

GamesAction RPGAction RPG + Western

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Western Action RPG?

Action RPG + Western

Only 13 developers shipped a Western Action RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Tombwater, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.5k, ×3.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 15 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Western
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $128k → $3.4k → $3.0k → $11k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Western: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $5.5k (exactly $5,513)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,630)
Top 5% $211k (exactly $211,415)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 39
Announced 15
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 up 65% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Western
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Action-Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 616 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $5.5k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + NavalFair17 devs · median $15k · 11 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  3. + Local MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorLong shot35 devs · median $450 · 33 announced
  5. + WuxiaPoor odds7 devs · median $198k · 28 announced
  6. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  7. + MechsPoor odds21 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  8. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  9. + Dating SimPoor odds31 devs · median $44k · 47 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds23 devs · median $26k · 69 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds44 devs · median $23k · 78 announced

All 211 pairs on the Action RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Fallout: New Vegas older $9.99 211,748 95% 6.4M $63M (exactly $63,460,876) Obsidian Entertainment
Weird West: Definitive Edition older $39.99 3,962 77% 119k $4.8M (exactly $4,753,211) WolfEye Studios
Bounty of One older $6.99 2,749 88% 82k $576k (exactly $576,465) OptizOnion
West Hunt older $9.99 1,522 84% 46k $456k (exactly $456,143) NewGen
Tombwater $24.99 282 92% 8.5k $211k (exactly $211,415) Moth Atlas
Wild West and Wizards older $14.99 365 72% 11k $164k (exactly $164,140) Lavaboots Studios
Exoplanet: First Contact · EA older $19.99 230 73% 6.9k $138k (exactly $137,931) Alersteam
Dust & Neon older $14.99 284 76% 8.5k $128k (exactly $127,715) David Marquardt Studios
Deadrock Redemption older $14.99 208 60% 6.2k $94k (exactly $93,538) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Siege of Avalon: Anthology older $9.99 262 86% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,521) Digital Tome, General Arcade, Steffen N… (Digital Tome, General Arcade, Steffen Nyeland)
Deadrock Redemption 2 $14.99 123 86% 3.7k $55k (exactly $55,313) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Frontier Legends · EA $29.99 57 40% 1.7k $51k (exactly $51,283) Neojac Entertainment Inc.
DOOMED Detective Game $6.99 65 46% 2.0k $14k (exactly $13,630) Azikton Studio
Deadrock Salvation $9.99 38 86% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,389) Ghost Machine
Trans Theft Horso $11.00 18 100% 540 $5.9k (exactly $5,940) Cow Children Games
Dust & Courage: Jake Bolton’s Journey $7.99 23 86% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) Storyforge Games
Dead 2 Rise $24.99 4 25% 120 $3.0k (exactly $2,999) Rahmat M, Sharifa Taraki
The Cute the Baldy and the Fluffy $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) lightUP
Hot Shot Monkey $1.99 4 100% 120 $239 (exactly $239) Ape Byte

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