Games › Class-Based › Class-Based + Adventure
Should I ship an Adventure Class-Based game?
Class-Based + Adventure
Of 136 developers who shipped an Adventure Class-Based game 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.. 286 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 $1.4k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×739 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 286 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,827) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,106,385) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 136 |
| Released games | 343 |
| Announced | 286 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 40% 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.
- Class-Based
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Class-Based, Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Combat, Action
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 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 $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 25,478 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 67 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 286 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Class-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HeavenFair
- + SupernaturalLong shot
- + 2D PlatformerLong shot
- + FPSPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Third-Person ShooterPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Baldur's Gate 3 | older | $59.99 | 755,010 96% | 23M | $1.4B (exactly $1,358,791,497) | Larian Studios |
| | The Elder Scrolls® Online | older | $19.99 | 134,421 82% | 4.0M | $81M (exactly $80,612,274) | ZeniMax Online Studios |
| | Solasta: Crown of the Magister | older | $29.99 | 19,680 87% | 590k | $18M (exactly $17,706,096) | Tactical Adventures |
| | Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | older | $29.99 | 17,779 70% | 533k | $16M (exactly $15,995,766) | Gearbox Software |
| | Gloomhaven | older | $34.99 | 13,628 82% | 409k | $14M (exactly $14,305,312) | Flaming Fowl Studios, Saber Interactive |
| | Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew | older | $39.99 | 5,190 91% | 156k | $6.2M (exactly $6,226,443) | Mimimi Games |
| | Rabbit and Steel | older | $14.99 | 10,159 96% | 305k | $4.6M (exactly $4,568,502) | mino_dev |
| | The Slormancer | $19.99 | 6,926 81% | 208k | $4.2M (exactly $4,153,522) | Slormite Studios | |
| | Visions of Mana | older | $59.99 | 2,117 76% | 64k | $3.8M (exactly $3,809,965) | Square Enix |
| | Chronicon | older | $13.99 | 8,822 94% | 265k | $3.7M (exactly $3,702,593) | Subworld |
| | Solasta II | · EA | $39.99 | 2,931 75% | 88k | $3.5M (exactly $3,516,321) | Tactical Adventures |
| | Heroes of Hammerwatch II | $19.99 | 5,806 82% | 174k | $3.5M (exactly $3,481,858) | Crackshell | |
| | Sunderfolk | $49.99 | 1,890 93% | 57k | $2.8M (exactly $2,834,433) | Secret Door | |
| | Three Kingdoms Mushouden | $24.99 | 1,876 72% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,406,437) | NanBei Studio | |
| | Erenshor | · EA | $19.99 | 2,153 94% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,291,154) | Burgee Media |
| | The Nameless: Slay Dragon | $17.99 | 2,050 91% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,106,385) | The Nameless Epic | |
| | New Arc Line | · EA | $24.99 | 687 68% | 21k | $515k (exactly $515,044) | Dreamate |
| | The Use of Life | $19.99 | 764 90% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games | |
| | Roboquest VR | $29.99 | 395 87% | 12k | $355k (exactly $355,382) | Flat2VR Studios, RyseUp Studios |
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.