Games › Combat › Combat + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Combat Beat 'em up?
Combat + Beat 'em up
Of 304 developers who shipped a Combat Beat 'em up 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.. 509 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 509 games are announced against 161 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper, while revenue is up 80% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $419 (exactly $419) |
| Top 25% | $7.8k (exactly $7,796) |
| Top 5% | $180k (exactly $179,910) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 304 |
| Released games | 890 |
| Announced | 509 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- 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
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, Beat 'em up; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 67,849 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 179 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 509 games are announced against 161 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2025 · $60M 
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2022 · $59M 
MADNESS: Project Nexus 2021 · $12M 
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE 2022 · $8.8M 
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 | $59.99 | 33,433 83% | 1.0M | $60M (exactly $60,169,370) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software | |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | older | $49.99 | 39,234 93% | 1.2M | $59M (exactly $58,839,230) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | MADNESS: Project Nexus | older | $24.99 | 15,977 97% | 479k | $12M (exactly $11,977,957) | GIBBING TREE, LLC |
| | SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE | older | $59.99 | 4,892 62% | 147k | $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) | ARTDINK |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
 | RWBY: Grimm Eclipse | older | $19.99 | 9,834 81% | 295k | $5.9M (exactly $5,897,450) | Rooster Teeth Games, FarBridge |
 | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
 | Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | older | $29.99 | 5,004 92% | 150k | $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) | Edelweiss |
 | Yakuza 6: The Song of Life | older | $19.99 | 7,017 92% | 211k | $4.2M (exactly $4,208,095) | RGG Studio |
 | Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties | $59.99 | 2,229 62% | 67k | $4.0M (exactly $4,011,531) | RGG Studio | |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | Yakuza 0 Director's Cut | $49.99 | 1,628 80% | 49k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,512) | RGG Studio | |
 | Samson | $24.99 | 2,911 54% | 87k | $2.2M (exactly $2,182,377) | Liquid Swords | |
 | PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY | $29.99 | 2,091 83% | 63k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) | SAS CO.,LTD. | |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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