Games › Arcade › Arcade + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Arcade game?
Arcade + Fantasy
Of 683 developers who shipped a Fantasy 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.. 883 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $62k, ×131 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 883 games are announced against 404 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 5% | $62k (exactly $62,369) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 683 |
| Released games | 2,089 |
| Announced | 883 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 62,332 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 344 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 883 games are announced against 404 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- 2021 · $57M 
DJMAX RESPECT V 2020 · $45M 
Mortal Kombat X 2015 · $24M 
SOULCALIBUR VI 2018 · $18M 
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove 2014 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- | older | $39.99 | 47,650 88% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $57,165,705) | Arc System Works |
| | DJMAX RESPECT V | older | $49.99 | 29,808 88% | 894k | $45M (exactly $44,703,058) | NEOWIZ |
| | Mortal Kombat X | older | $19.99 | 39,392 88% | 1.2M | $24M (exactly $23,623,382) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
| | 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) |
| | Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove | older | $39.99 | 14,211 95% | 426k | $17M (exactly $17,048,937) | Yacht Club Games |
 | A Dance of Fire and Ice | older | $5.99 | 78,688 94% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,140,234) | 7th Beat Games |
 | BlazBlue Centralfiction | older | $39.99 | 9,476 94% | 284k | $11M (exactly $11,368,357) | Arc System Works |
 | Minecraft Dungeons | older | $19.99 | 17,941 90% | 538k | $11M (exactly $10,759,218) | Mojang Studios, Double Eleven |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun | older | $21.99 | 15,741 90% | 472k | $10M (exactly $10,384,338) | Auroch Digital |
 | Rogue Legacy | older | $14.99 | 15,877 92% | 476k | $7.1M (exactly $7,139,887) | Cellar Door Games |
 | Absolum | $24.99 | 9,399 91% | 282k | $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) | Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks | |
 | Halls of Torment | $6.66 | 30,752 95% | 923k | $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) | Chasing Carrots | |
 | Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game | $29.99 | 3,298 85% | 99k | $3.0M (exactly $2,967,211) | Gameplay Group International | |
 | Dwarven Realms | $9.99 | 2,850 81% | 86k | $854k (exactly $854,145) | Crater Studios | |
 | Tower Wizard | $2.99 | 8,787 96% | 264k | $788k (exactly $788,194) | Barribob | |
 | Wild Woods | · EA | $14.99 | 1,746 78% | 52k | $785k (exactly $785,176) | Octofox Games |
 | Vellum | $19.99 | 1,290 89% | 39k | $774k (exactly $773,613) | Alvios Games | |
 | PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC | $29.99 | 694 90% | 21k | $624k (exactly $624,392) | NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd. | |
 | Chef Knight | $5.99 | 2,433 94% | 73k | $437k (exactly $437,210) | Clover Bite | |
 | Skull Horde | $12.99 | 1,083 81% | 32k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | 8BitSkull |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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