Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Arcade

Only 17 developers shipped an Arcade Character Action 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, Dead as Disco, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.5k, ×3.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6183 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 37 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $5.5k → $16k → $3.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Action Game + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $1.4k (exactly $1,350)
Median $5.5k (exactly $5,456)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,920)
Top 5% $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 173
Announced 37
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 125% on the market, supply 225% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Spectacle fighter, Boomer Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Comedy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 13,741 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.4k, median $5.5k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Sci-fiPoor odds12 devs · median $305k · 30 announced
  2. + Action RPGPoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  3. + ShooterPoor odds14 devs · median $84k · 47 announced
  4. + Action-AdventurePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  5. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds14 devs · median $58k · 43 announced
  6. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  7. + Hack and SlashPoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  8. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  9. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  10. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  11. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead as Disco 2026 · EA · $9.3M Vanquish 2017 · $4.2M I Am Your Beast 2024 · $3.2M Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae 2014 · $823k Kao the Kangaroo 2022 · $784k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Vanquish older $19.99 6,974 89% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,182,308) PlatinumGames, Little Stone Software
I Am Your Beast older $19.99 5,275 97% 158k $3.2M (exactly $3,163,417) Strange Scaffold
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae older $9.99 2,747 81% 82k $823k (exactly $823,276) Zenith Blue
Kao the Kangaroo older $29.99 871 74% 26k $784k (exactly $783,639) Tate Multimedia
The Wonderful 101: Remastered older $39.99 564 84% 17k $677k (exactly $676,631) PlatinumGames Inc.
Mighty Goose older $19.99 943 86% 28k $566k (exactly $565,517) Blastmode, MP2 Games
Mr. Shifty older $14.99 855 88% 26k $384k (exactly $384,494) Team Shifty
Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation $9.99 1,019 97% 31k $305k (exactly $305,394) Ciaran Games LLC
Shing! older $19.99 334 79% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Mass Creation
GLUM · EA $12.49 78 64% 2.3k $29k (exactly $29,227) CinderCat Games
Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons Boosted $39.99 17 58% 510 $20k (exactly $20,395) TAITO CORP.
Ski Jumping World Cup $3.99 133 75% 4.0k $16k (exactly $15,920) Storm Trident S.A.
Pixel Game Maker Series MagicalShot The AttackBump☆ $4.99 59 100% 1.8k $8.8k (exactly $8,832) Azuma Project
DAWN ONE $8.99 26 76% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) shaderbunny
VEX MAGE $9.99 23 95% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) Nervous Systems
Ominous Stew $12.99 14 100% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) bloomgeist
BOMCAT $5.99 18 100% 540 $3.2k (exactly $3,235) TANZI GAMES

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