Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Archery

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Archery RPG?

RPG + Archery

Of 28 developers who shipped an Archery RPG 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.. 96 more are announced, ×8.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×581 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 96 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 96 announced, ×8.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Archery
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $597 → $1.0k → $5.1k → $897 → $18k → $15k → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Archery: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $49,151)
Top 5% $365k (exactly $365,104)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 107
Announced 96
Effort 6 / 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 down 90% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Archery
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
RPG, Archery; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Open World
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 3,349 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $49k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition older $49.99 95,804 87% 2.9M $144M (exactly $143,677,259) Guerrilla
Swords & Souls: Neverseen older $14.99 6,077 93% 182k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,827) SoulGame Studio
Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders older $29.99 1,020 68% 31k $918k (exactly $917,694) MeanAstronauts
Karnage Chronicles older $24.99 1,190 85% 36k $892k (exactly $892,143) Nordic Trolls
Grimlord $29.99 927 78% 28k $834k (exactly $834,022) Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd
Unbridled: That Horse Game · EA $24.99 487 85% 15k $365k (exactly $365,104) Mind Evotion Games
QuiVr older $19.99 482 88% 14k $289k (exactly $289,055) Blueteak
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown older $19.99 326 97% 9.8k $196k (exactly $195,502) Falling Squirrel, Creative Bytes Studios
Zad Archery $6.99 803 73% 24k $168k (exactly $168,389) Samharia Studios
Swords & Souls Legacy Collection $9.99 337 94% 10k $101k (exactly $100,999) SoulGame Studio
The Last King · EA $14.99 122 79% 3.7k $55k (exactly $54,863) Mayawi software
DragonRoad $19.98 82 91% 2.5k $49k (exactly $49,151) XuJie
Psionic Sentry : Infinite · EA $4.99 215 83% 6.5k $32k (exactly $32,186) Roy, 響雨互動娛樂, HowlingRain
Tales from The Dancing Moon $17.99 34 88% 1.0k $18k (exactly $18,350) DjMonkey
Mythrealm · EA $14.99 33 87% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Delta Video Games

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