Games › Arcade › Arcade + Villain Protagonist
Should I ship a Villain-Led Arcade game?
Arcade + Villain Protagonist
Only 5 developers shipped a Villain-Led Arcade 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, YOU ARE THE MONSTER, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 11 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $12k against a market of $480. 11 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,336) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $12,081) |
| Top 25% | $95k (exactly $95,087) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $146,254) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 5 |
| Released games | 33 |
| Announced | 11 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Villain Protagonist
- 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
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 18,030 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 11 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS 2022 · $4.5M 
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions 2024 · $2.5M 
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse 2021 · $1.1M 
Alex Jones: NWO Wars 2024 · $930k 
Be My Horde 2024 · EA · $615k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS | older | $29.99 | 4,983 50% | 149k | $4.5M (exactly $4,483,205) | Dimps Corporation |
| | Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions | older | $29.99 | 2,790 73% | 84k | $2.5M (exactly $2,510,163) | Unbroken Studios |
| | Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse | older | $19.99 | 1,781 89% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,068,066) | Aspyr |
| | Alex Jones: NWO Wars | older | $17.76 | 1,745 92% | 52k | $930k (exactly $929,736) | NWO Wars Team |
| | Be My Horde | · EA older | $9.99 | 2,052 85% | 62k | $615k (exactly $614,984) | Polished Games |
 | Terror of Hemasaurus | older | $14.99 | 766 91% | 23k | $344k (exactly $344,470) | Loren Lemcke |
 | BUTCHER | older | $9.99 | 1,046 89% | 31k | $313k (exactly $313,486) | Phobia Game Studio, Transhuman Design |
 | YOU ARE THE MONSTER | · EA | $9.99 | 488 69% | 15k | $146k (exactly $146,254) | Joshua Hughes |
 | I, Zombie | older | $1.99 | 2,180 84% | 65k | $130k (exactly $130,146) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | JUSTICE SUCKS: Tactical Vacuum Action | older | $19.99 | 199 95% | 6.0k | $119k (exactly $119,340) | Samurai Punk |
 | Excidio The Kaiju Simulator | $12.99 | 244 92% | 7.3k | $95k (exactly $95,087) | TokuPop | |
 | Buccaneers Shipshape | $12.99 | 31 87% | 930 | $12k (exactly $12,081) | Merso Entertainment | |
 | KatanaHime | $0.99 | 45 95% | 1.4k | $1.3k (exactly $1,336) | Heuristic Forge | |
 | Reverse Survivors | $3.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $479 (exactly $479) | Holiver Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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