Games › Arcade › Arcade + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Arcade game?
Arcade + Underground
Of 63 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 67 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 37 developers shipped in the last year and 67 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $360 (exactly $360) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,246) |
| Top 5% | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 169 |
| Announced | 67 |
| 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 down 70% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Mining, Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,526 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. Nearly all of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 37 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
You Know The Drill 2026 · $153k 
Bloody Knuckles Street Boxing 2024 · EA · $94k 
Hot Lap League: Deluxe Edition 2022 · $76k 
Egyptian Senet 2015 · $60k 
Golazo! 2 2022 · $49k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai | |
| | Bloody Knuckles Street Boxing | · EA older | $14.99 | 210 52% | 6.3k | $94k (exactly $94,437) | Luvseatshawty |
| | Hot Lap League: Deluxe Edition | older | $14.99 | 169 78% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $75,999) | Ultimate Studio |
| | Egyptian Senet | older | $9.99 | 200 81% | 6.0k | $60k (exactly $59,940) | Ezzat Studios |
| | Golazo! 2 | older | $14.99 | 109 77% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | Purple Tree S R L |
 | Footgun: Underground | older | $14.99 | 102 85% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Turtle Knight Games |
 | Train Plus Japan Drive Western Japan Trains! Rapid Service Edition | $64.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $27k (exactly $27,296) | SHINISE GAMES, MFC STUDIO | |
 | Dragonpath | older | $7.99 | 91 78% | 2.7k | $22k (exactly $21,813) | Ebonscale Games |
 | No Parachute | older | $4.99 | 116 89% | 3.5k | $17k (exactly $17,365) | Wherry |
 | holedown | older | $9.99 | 54 85% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $16,184) | grapefrukt games |
 | The Candle | $4.99 | 71 91% | 2.1k | $11k (exactly $10,629) | Candle Dev | |
 | OREBLAZE | $4.99 | 64 92% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | Ludiminal Games | |
 | Bugscraper | $9.99 | 28 96% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Yolwoocle, OLX, Verbaudet, Ninesliced | |
 | cheapskate | · EA | $4.99 | 55 98% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Simple Dev Studio |
 | Rift Miner | $7.99 | 31 93% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | TIDERAFT | |
 | DigWorld | $4.99 | 43 81% | 1.3k | $6.4k (exactly $6,437) | Edgar IX | |
 | Quarion | $0.99 | 166 94% | 5.0k | $4.9k (exactly $4,930) | Zejoant | |
 | Idle DeepMiner | $4.99 | 32 84% | 960 | $4.8k (exactly $4,790) | Pantomime Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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