Do I ship it?

GamesBuildingBuilding + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Beat 'em up?

Building + Beat 'em up

Only 3 developers shipped a Building Beat 'em up in the last 2 years. Over 4 years, 9 did: 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.. 10 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $270 against a market of $630. 10 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 10 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr n = 9

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Building + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $1.1k (exactly $1,075)
Top 5% $441k (exactly $440,912)
Developers, 4 yr 9
Released games 25
Announced 10
Effort 5 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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.

Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Beat 'em up
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Building, Beat 'em up
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 4 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 815 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 4 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $840, 1 in 4 over $1.0k, 1 in 20 over $440k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 10 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles older $49.99 294 52% 8.8k $441k (exactly $440,912) ZOC Co.,Ltd.
Barbaria older $19.99 129 93% 3.9k $77k (exactly $77,361) Stalwart Games, LLC
Gimbal older $14.99 130 79% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,461) 8888888 LABS
Crown Champion: Legends of the Arena older $4.99 203 82% 6.1k $30k (exactly $30,389) Pilgrim Adventures
Slam Bolt Scrappers older $4.99 20 60% 600 $3.0k (exactly $2,994) Fire Hose Games
Soulknight Survivor older $1.99 18 61% 540 $1.1k (exactly $1,075) SE Development
Scrap Games older $4.99 7 71% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) QuickBytes Studio
Morrigan's Isle · EA $6.99 4 100% 120 $839 (exactly $839) Null Reference Games
Loot Scoot $2.99 3 100% 90 $269 (exactly $269) Minor54 Studios
Rock'n Cow older $0.99 7 100% 210 $208 (exactly $208) Igor Silva Batista
Covert X Universe $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Covert X Gaming

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