Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up Destruction game?

Destruction + Beat 'em up

Of 22 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up Destruction game 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.. 44 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×674 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 44 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 44 announced, ×5.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $19k → $5.8k → $1.9k → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,593)
Top 25% $32k (exactly $32,294)
Top 5% $424k (exactly $423,580)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 74
Announced 44
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 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction, Beat 'em up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 3D Fighter, Action-Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Comedy, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 2,359 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rubber Bandits 2021 · $1.7M Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae 2014 · $823k Star Fire: Eternal Cycle 2025 · $516k BLACKWOOD 2026 · $424k Mr. Shifty 2017 · $384k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rubber Bandits older $9.99 5,628 84% 169k $1.7M (exactly $1,686,712) Flashbulb
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae older $9.99 2,747 81% 82k $823k (exactly $823,276) Zenith Blue
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio
BLACKWOOD $24.99 565 46% 17k $424k (exactly $423,580) AttritoM7 Productions
Mr. Shifty older $14.99 855 88% 26k $384k (exactly $384,494) Team Shifty
Terror of Hemasaurus older $14.99 766 91% 23k $344k (exactly $344,470) Loren Lemcke
Anarcute older $14.99 576 92% 17k $259k (exactly $259,027) Anarteam
Monster: Titan's Playground · EA $29.99 273 91% 8.2k $246k (exactly $245,618) Stellar Knights
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms older $29.99 255 71% 7.7k $229k (exactly $229,424) Arc System Works
Frenzy VR · EA older $14.99 205 60% 6.2k $92k (exactly $92,188) Innoverse Ltd
Pull Stay $16.99 125 97% 3.8k $64k (exactly $63,712) Nito Souji
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next $29.99 37 62% 1.1k $33k (exactly $33,289) Arc System Works
Mayhemers · EA $6.99 154 84% 4.6k $32k (exactly $32,294) Anigtas
Drunkn Bar Fight 2 VR · EA $12.99 64 50% 1.9k $25k (exactly $24,941) Yooperlite
We Could Be Heroes $14.99 42 85% 1.3k $19k (exactly $18,887) CebCode Games
Melon Simulator™ $4.99 74 85% 2.2k $11k (exactly $11,078) Delirious & Co.
War of Wheels · EA $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Dreambits Studio

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