Games › Arcade › Arcade + Superhero
Should I ship a Superhero Arcade game?
Arcade + Superhero
Of 34 developers who shipped a Superhero 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.. 24 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×1380 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 24 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) |
| Top 5% | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Comic Book, 1990's
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 6,591 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Injustice™ 2 2017 · $26M 
SpeedRunners 2016 · $10M 
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition 2013 · $5.9M 
ULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3 2017 · $4.9M 
Invincible VS 2026 · $4.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Injustice™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 17,445 86% | 523k | $26M (exactly $26,162,266) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
| | SpeedRunners | older | $14.99 | 22,842 94% | 685k | $10M (exactly $10,272,047) | DoubleDutch Games |
| | Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition | older | $19.99 | 9,864 86% | 296k | $5.9M (exactly $5,915,441) | NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Softw… (NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Software) |
| | ULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3 | older | $24.99 | 6,546 91% | 196k | $4.9M (exactly $4,907,536) | CAPCOM CO., LTD. |
| | Invincible VS | $49.99 | 3,031 76% | 91k | $4.5M (exactly $4,545,591) | Quarter Up | |
 | DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS | older | $29.99 | 4,983 50% | 149k | $4.5M (exactly $4,483,205) | Dimps Corporation |
 | ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS | older | $59.99 | 1,692 53% | 51k | $3.0M (exactly $3,045,092) | Spike Chunsoft Co. Ltd. |
 | MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics | older | $49.99 | 1,976 93% | 59k | $3.0M (exactly $2,963,407) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite | older | $39.99 | 2,445 67% | 73k | $2.9M (exactly $2,933,266) | Capcom |
 | MARVEL Cosmic Invasion | $29.99 | 2,298 88% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) | Tribute Games Inc. | |
 | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
 | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | After School Grounds (방과후운동장) | $3.99 | 160 99% | 4.8k | $19k (exactly $19,152) | After School Vtuber | |
 | The Phantom | $19.99 | 31 61% | 930 | $19k (exactly $18,591) | Art Of Play Interactive | |
 | Super Farming Boy | · EA | $12.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $16k (exactly $16,367) | LemonChili Soft |
 | QUADRICOLOR: Ultra Sentai Color Ranger | $12.99 | 27 96% | 810 | $11k (exactly $10,522) | Quadri Team | |
 | Bullet: Surge | $15.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Cerbere Games | |
 | Last Eclipse | $12.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $2.3k (exactly $2,338) | Animas Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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