Do I ship it?

Games › Arcade › Arcade + Dogs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dog Arcade game?

Arcade + Dogs

Of 62 developers who shipped a Dog 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.. 43 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 39 developers shipped in the last year and 43 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 43 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arcade + Dogs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 62
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $479 → $896 → $1.9k → $239 → $1.4k → $479 → $298 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arcade + Dogs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 62
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $298 (exactly $298)
Top 25% $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 5% $37k (exactly $37,409)
Developers, 2 yr 62
Released games 159
Announced 43
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 50% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Dogs
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,392 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $37k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair59 devs · median $4.3k · 88 announced
  2. + TrainsFair20 devs · median $3.1k · 16 announced
  3. + Visual NovelFair101 devs · median $2.6k · 84 announced
  4. + MiningFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  5. + FaithFair16 devs · median $2.2k · 15 announced
  6. + Turn-BasedFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  7. + EconomyFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair72 devs · median $2.1k · 61 announced
  9. + DeckbuildingFair170 devs · median $1.9k · 234 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair68 devs · median $1.9k · 75 announced
  11. + LootFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced
  12. + VampiresFair34 devs · median $1.9k · 35 announced

All 270 pairs on the Arcade page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 2023 · $1.5M PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist 2015 · $323k POPGOES Arcade 2022 · $218k Dogpile 2025 · $212k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl older $49.99 4,311 75% 129k $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) Ludosity, Fair Play Labs
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 older $49.99 1,013 81% 30k $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) Fair Play Labs
PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist older $7.99 1,346 91% 40k $323k (exactly $322,636) Outerminds Inc.
POPGOES Arcade older $4.99 1,455 96% 44k $218k (exactly $217,814) Kane Carter
Dogpile $9.99 708 95% 21k $212k (exactly $212,188) Studio Folly, Toot Games, Foot
Wild Blue Skies $14.99 251 58% 7.5k $113k (exactly $112,875) Chuhai Labs, VITEI BACKROOM Inc.
Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines older $17.99 199 97% 6.0k $107k (exactly $107,400) Medallion Games
Russian Subway Dogs older $14.99 206 97% 6.2k $93k (exactly $92,638) Spooky Squid Games Inc.
QP Shooting - Dangerous!! older $7.99 378 94% 11k $91k (exactly $90,607) Orange_Juice
Super Catboy older $9.99 253 77% 7.6k $76k (exactly $75,824) Pixelpogo
Fright Train $15.99 139 89% 4.2k $67k (exactly $66,678) WildArts Games
Royalty Free-For-All $11.99 104 86% 3.1k $37k (exactly $37,409) AAAA Games, LLC
Nebula Flow $17.99 37 97% 1.1k $20k (exactly $19,969) After Nap Games
Nomyou $11.99 39 56% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) Kudalyn's Creations
Dog of Wisdom $3.99 71 83% 2.1k $8.5k (exactly $8,499) Joe Gran
The PARADOGX Incident $10.99 25 92% 750 $8.2k (exactly $8,242) Artibex
Pets & Stuff $14.99 10 100% 300 $4.5k (exactly $4,497) HyperVR Games
Street Cleaner 3 $15.99 8 100% 240 $3.8k (exactly $3,838) Creaky Lantern Games

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