Games › Arcade › Arcade + Assassins
Should I ship an Assassin Arcade game?
Arcade + Assassins
Only 14 developers shipped an Assassin Arcade 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, Suit for Hire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $210 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 5 developers shipped in the last year and 29 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $210 (exactly $210) |
| Top 25% | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Time
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 3D, Cartoony
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 3,705 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Pistol Whip 2019 · $3.2M 
Suit for Hire 2025 · $1.5M 
Garfield Kart 2015 · $1.4M 
Children of the Sun 2024 · $902k 
Mr. Shifty 2017 · $384k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
| | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
| | Garfield Kart | older | $4.99 | 9,662 88% | 290k | $1.4M (exactly $1,446,401) | Artefacts Studio |
| | Children of the Sun | older | $14.99 | 2,005 92% | 60k | $902k (exactly $901,648) | René Rother |
| | Mr. Shifty | older | $14.99 | 855 88% | 26k | $384k (exactly $384,494) | Team Shifty |
 | Neon Inferno | $19.99 | 378 92% | 11k | $227k (exactly $226,687) | Zenovia Interactive | |
 | Ganryu 2 | older | $17.99 | 72 58% | 2.2k | $39k (exactly $38,858) | Storybird Studio |
 | Dead Second | older | $14.99 | 47 87% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $21,136) | Spunge Games Pty Ltd |
 | Kate: Collateral Damage | older | $7.99 | 82 92% | 2.5k | $20k (exactly $19,655) | Ludic Studios |
 | Cavern Escape Extremely Hard game!!! | older | $4.99 | 127 49% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $19,012) | White Dog Games |
 | Santa's Hitlist CEO Edition | $3.99 | 28 96% | 840 | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) | Unlucky Studios, UnluckySaurus (Erick R… (Unlucky Studios, UnluckySaurus (Erick Ramirez)) | |
 | Lightning Katana | $7.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | Juicy Pulp Games | |
 | Justice Ninja Casey | $5.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Sunsoft | |
 | Stealth Syndicate | $3.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $958 (exactly $958) | Vincent Lopes-Vicente | |
 | SZX | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | Venagon | |
 | Getaway Golf | $0.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $148 (exactly $148) | schizmo | |
 | Samurai Shiba | $1.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | Christopher Hoey | |
 | Slide Faster | $1.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | Puzzle Drop Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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