Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Arcade
Should I ship an Arcade Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Arcade
Of 230 developers who shipped an Arcade Beat 'em up 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.. 339 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×454 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 339 games are announced against 116 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) |
| Top 5% | $215k (exactly $215,484) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 230 |
| Released games | 834 |
| Announced | 339 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up, Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Combat
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Side Scroller, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 37,436 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 143 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 339 games are announced against 116 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different second tag, 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
TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M 
Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M 
Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M 
Injustice™ 2 2017 · $26M 
Sifu 2023 · $26M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TEKKEN 7 | older | $39.99 | 68,063 83% | 2.0M | $82M (exactly $81,655,181) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
| | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
| | Injustice™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 17,445 86% | 523k | $26M (exactly $26,162,266) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
| | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
 | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
 | SOULCALIBUR VI | older | $59.99 | 9,768 83% | 293k | $18M (exactly $17,579,470) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc., Dimps Corpor… (BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc., Dimps Corporation) |
 | Paint the Town Red | older | $19.99 | 29,141 96% | 874k | $17M (exactly $17,475,858) | South East Games |
 | Street Fighter V | older | $19.99 | 27,820 72% | 835k | $17M (exactly $16,683,654) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Streets of Rage 4 | older | $24.99 | 17,293 92% | 519k | $13M (exactly $12,964,562) | Dotemu, Guard Crush, Lizardcube |
 | Dead as Disco | · EA | $24.99 | 12,354 96% | 371k | $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) | Brain Jar Games, Inc. |
 | Absolum | $24.99 | 9,399 91% | 282k | $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) | Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks | |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | MARVEL Cosmic Invasion | $29.99 | 2,298 88% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) | Tribute Games Inc. | |
 | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
 | Little Fighter 2 Remastered | $15.88 | 1,770 76% | 53k | $843k (exactly $843,228) | Little Fighter Co Pty Ltd, Marti Wong | |
 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind | $34.99 | 713 65% | 21k | $748k (exactly $748,436) | Digital Eclipse | |
 | Star Fire: Eternal Cycle | $16.99 | 1,012 91% | 30k | $516k (exactly $515,816) | Ethereal Fish Studio | |
 | Big Helmet Heroes | $24.99 | 678 78% | 20k | $508k (exactly $508,297) | Exalted Studio | |
 | Nitro Express | $12.99 | 1,069 75% | 32k | $417k (exactly $416,589) | Grayfax Software |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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