Do I ship it?

GamesAdventureAdventure + Samurai

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Samurai Adventure game?

Adventure + Samurai

Only 13 developers shipped a Samurai Adventure game 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, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $260k, ×416 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $80k. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 14 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 415.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 14 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Adventure + Samurai
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Adventure + Samurai: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $80k (exactly $79,888)
Median $261k (exactly $261,215)
Top 25% $889k (exactly $889,355)
Top 5% $73M (exactly $73,390,814)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 36
Announced 14
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $19.99

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 25% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Samurai
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Open World
Price point
$19.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Violent, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 57,276 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $80k, median $260k, 1 in 4 over $880k, 1 in 20 over $73M.

3 in 10 developers made under $80k. 2 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVFair144 devs · median $39k · 151 announced
  2. + PinballFair11 devs · median $8.1k · 17 announced
  3. + Job SimulatorFair40 devs · median $6.3k · 50 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  5. + Mini GolfFair12 devs · median $2.2k · 11 announced
  6. + SportsFair228 devs · median $1.5k · 224 announced
  7. + GolfFair18 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair384 devs · median $1.2k · 420 announced
  9. + Time AttackFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  10. + Traditional RoguelikeFair89 devs · median $449 · 119 announced
  11. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds21 devs · median $192k · 54 announced

All 279 pairs on the Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT older $59.99 64,591 93% 1.9M $116M (exactly $116,244,423) Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Softwa… (Sucker Punch Productions, Nixxes Software)
Assassin’s Creed Shadows $69.99 34,953 75% 1.0M $73M (exactly $73,390,814) Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine)
Nioh: Complete Edition older $49.99 29,580 78% 887k $44M (exactly $44,361,126) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun older $39.99 30,845 96% 925k $37M (exactly $37,004,746) Mimimi Games
Onimusha: Way of the Sword $69.99 11,279 89% 338k $24M (exactly $23,682,516) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Rise of the Ronin $49.99 6,503 64% 195k $9.8M (exactly $9,752,549) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Like a Dragon: Ishin! older $39.99 4,891 80% 147k $5.9M (exactly $5,867,733) RGG Studio
Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen older $59.99 1,328 93% 40k $2.4M (exactly $2,390,002) AQUAPLUS
Bladesong · EA $19.99 1,483 95% 44k $889k (exactly $889,355) SUN AND SERPENT creations
Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds older $9.99 1,952 92% 59k $585k (exactly $585,014) Idea Factory, Design Factory
Utawarerumono: Past and Present Rediscovered $59.99 289 83% 8.7k $520k (exactly $520,113) AQUAPLUS
Wagotabi: A Japanese Journey $9.99 1,543 98% 46k $462k (exactly $462,437) Wagotabi Limited
Katanaut $17.99 484 88% 15k $261k (exactly $261,215) Voidmaw
Warlord: Awaji $24.99 256 78% 7.7k $192k (exactly $191,923) Darkmatter Games
Gurei $15.99 281 83% 8.4k $135k (exactly $134,796) Lobo Sagaz studio
Red Masked Ronin: Desires and Shadows · EA $12.99 205 64% 6.2k $80k (exactly $79,888) Light Hunt Games

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