Games › Arcade › Arcade + Auto Battler
Should I ship an Auto Battler Arcade game?
Arcade + Auto Battler
Of 78 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Arcade 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.. 93 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $270. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 93 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $251,346) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 78 |
| Released games | 169 |
| Announced | 93 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Auto Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade, Auto Battler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,441 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k 
Be My Horde 2024 · EA · $615k 
Skull Horde 2026 · $422k 
Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't 2026 · $314k 
Loot Loop 2026 · $255k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
| | Be My Horde | · EA older | $9.99 | 2,052 85% | 62k | $615k (exactly $614,984) | Polished Games |
| | Skull Horde | $12.99 | 1,083 81% | 32k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | 8BitSkull | |
| | Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't | $14.99 | 698 95% | 21k | $314k (exactly $313,891) | Buried Things | |
| | Loot Loop | $4.99 | 1,701 93% | 51k | $255k (exactly $254,640) | BitBrew | |
 | Zero Stress King: Idle Defense | $4.99 | 1,679 87% | 50k | $251k (exactly $251,346) | Pauloondra | |
 | Candy Disaster - Tower Defense | older | $13.99 | 250 81% | 7.5k | $105k (exactly $104,925) | ACE Entertainment |
 | Dice People | $2.99 | 719 90% | 22k | $64k (exactly $64,494) | Mateusk2m, Manodeix | |
 | Dragon Ruins II | $9.99 | 209 87% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,637) | Graverobber Foundation | |
 | Hole Dweller | older | $7.99 | 260 96% | 7.8k | $62k (exactly $62,322) | Thigh High Games |
 | Neon Curves Racing | $12.99 | 92 94% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $35,852) | Ghost Machine | |
 | ploink | $12.99 | 91 96% | 2.7k | $35k (exactly $35,463) | Pyrocreep | |
 | Blacksmith: Ignite the Forge | $9.99 | 103 73% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,869) | Floodgate Crew | |
 | Full Metal Sergeant 2 | $9.99 | 66 89% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $19,780) | CarloC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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