Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Demons

Of 25 developers who shipped a Demon 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.. 39 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $57k, ×121 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 39 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 39 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $208 → $1.1k → $90 → $8.1k → $2.5k → $120 → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,197)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,694)
Top 5% $58k (exactly $57,698)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 84
Announced 39
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 50% on the market, supply 20% 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.

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Beat 'em up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Action RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 649 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $5.6k, 1 in 20 over $57k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Beat 'em up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $76k · 13 announced
  2. + RhythmFair17 devs · median $4.5k · 15 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair25 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  4. + Score AttackFair36 devs · median $539 · 41 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair11 devs · median $537 · 8 announced
  6. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $416 · 19 announced
  7. + NinjaLong shot29 devs · median $359 · 30 announced
  8. + Combat RacingLong shot15 devs · median $89 · 15 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  10. + LootPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 29 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds74 devs · median $11k · 125 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds45 devs · median $11k · 71 announced

All 126 pairs on the Beat 'em up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DmC: Devil May Cry 2013 · $19M Devil May Cry HD Collection 2018 · $18M Evil West 2022 · $15M Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition 2015 · $13M Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin 2020 · $4.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DmC: Devil May Cry older $29.99 20,938 93% 628k $19M (exactly $18,837,919) Ninja Theory
Devil May Cry HD Collection older $29.99 19,493 93% 585k $18M (exactly $17,537,852) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Evil West older $49.99 10,215 74% 306k $15M (exactly $15,319,436) Flying Wild Hog
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition older $24.99 16,972 87% 509k $13M (exactly $12,723,908) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin older $29.99 5,004 92% 150k $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) Edelweiss
Soulstice older $39.99 1,845 76% 55k $2.2M (exactly $2,213,446) Reply Game Studios
Shing! older $19.99 334 79% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Mass Creation
SiNiSistar Lite Version older $4.99 858 85% 26k $128k (exactly $128,443) Uu
Disgaea Mayhem $59.99 43 65% 1.3k $77k (exactly $77,387) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites older $19.99 129 60% 3.9k $77k (exactly $77,361) WayForward
Magenta Horizon - Neverending Harvest $10.99 175 89% 5.3k $58k (exactly $57,698) Maddison Baek
LUST Eternal 🔞 $4.99 212 55% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,736) Octo Games
Hellwatch $9.99 27 44% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) FG
Magical Hellhound Lust · EA $19.99 13 53% 390 $7.8k (exactly $7,796) Mildaponno
DEAD DAYLIGHT $2.99 71 88% 2.1k $6.4k (exactly $6,369) KARMIU
Succubus: The Lustborn Curse $9.99 19 63% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Lustborn Studio
REAPER $2.99 59 84% 1.8k $5.3k (exactly $5,292) DOSMan Games
HexWind $11.99 13 100% 390 $4.7k (exactly $4,676) Charm Games
DASHPUNCH $7.99 17 100% 510 $4.1k (exactly $4,075) DoubleV

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