Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Aliens
Only 18 developers shipped an Alien Beat 'em up 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, Star Fire: Eternal Cycle, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×1086 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 31 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,712) |
| Top 5% | $516k (exactly $515,816) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 78 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Action RPG
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Side Scroller, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,305 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + RhythmFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + NinjaLong shot
- + Combat RacingLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
No More Heroes 3 2022 · $1.0M 
Alien Hominid Invasion 2023 · $943k 
Alien Shooter 2009 · $587k 
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle 2025 · $516k 
MARVEL MaXimum Collection 2026 · $83k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | No More Heroes 3 | older | $39.99 | 835 79% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,001,750) | GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. |
| | Alien Hominid Invasion | older | $19.99 | 1,572 88% | 47k | $943k (exactly $942,728) | The Behemoth |
| | Alien Shooter | older | $4.99 | 3,919 95% | 118k | $587k (exactly $586,674) | Sigma Team Inc. |
| | Star Fire: Eternal Cycle | $16.99 | 1,012 91% | 30k | $516k (exactly $515,816) | Ethereal Fish Studio | |
| | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | Aeon Must Die! | older | $19.99 | 100 51% | 3.0k | $60k (exactly $59,970) | Limestone Games |
 | Warspace 2 | $17.99 | 83 59% | 2.5k | $45k (exactly $44,795) | Magic Game Art | |
 | universe treasure | older | $13.99 | 91 58% | 2.7k | $38k (exactly $38,193) | モンスター研 |
 | Chenso Club | older | $9.99 | 83 74% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,875) | Pixadome |
 | Coffee Crisis | older | $9.99 | 64 59% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $19,181) | Mega Cat Studios |
 | The SeethingSwarm Collection | $9.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | Seethingswarm | |
 | Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche | $7.99 | 28 82% | 840 | $6.7k (exactly $6,712) | WayForward | |
 | Agent Fall | $4.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Pufferfish Digital | |
 | SnackTimeActionGame | $7.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) | Snack Box Games | |
 | Feudal Bros - Tonosama #1 | $5.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Sunsoft | |
 | Carnage in Space: Crucible | $13.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $839 (exactly $839) | John Brink | |
 | Tenvader | $5.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $539 (exactly $539) | Rikerat |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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