Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up Dungeon Crawler?

Beat 'em up + Dungeon Crawler

Of 36 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up Dungeon Crawler 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.. 55 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $3.8M, ×8125 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 55 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 55 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $416 → $299 → $114k → $3.7k → $2.5k → $16k → $599 (still earning) → $7.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,512)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $21,586)
Top 5% $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 109
Announced 55
Effort 4 / 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 70% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Dungeon Crawler
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, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D
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 76% positive over 14,776 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $3.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Beat 'em up with a different second tag, 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

Rotwood 2026 · $6.7M Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 2025 · $3.9M Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate 2024 · $3.7M Going Under 2020 · $1.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rotwood $29.99 7,459 74% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) Klei Entertainment
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 older $9.99 18,417 87% 553k $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) Hunter Studio
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate $29.99 4,143 83% 124k $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) Super Evil Megacorp
Going Under older $19.99 2,702 92% 81k $1.6M (exactly $1,620,389) Aggro Crab
DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION older $2.99 12,437 94% 373k $1.1M (exactly $1,115,599) Agafonoff
Rampage Knights older $12.99 2,179 93% 65k $849k (exactly $849,156) Rake in Grass
Bravery and Greed older $19.99 640 78% 19k $384k (exactly $383,808) Rekka Games
Tunche older $19.99 618 73% 19k $371k (exactly $370,615) LEAP Game Studios
Young Souls older $24.99 494 84% 15k $370k (exactly $370,352) 1P2P
The Bleakest Keep $9.99 719 90% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Cache of Bones
Abyss Kitchen $11.99 202 89% 6.1k $73k (exactly $72,659) Pico Games
Paper Animal Adventure · EA $14.99 139 95% 4.2k $63k (exactly $62,508) Cuddling Raccoons Studio
Age of Barbarians Chronicles $18.99 101 76% 3.0k $58k (exactly $57,540) Crian Soft
Immortal Hunters $19.99 95 67% 2.9k $57k (exactly $56,971) Admiral Games
Box Knight $14.99 48 93% 1.4k $22k (exactly $21,586) We Made A Thing Studios
Green Ember: Helmer in the Dragon Tomb $16.99 32 96% 960 $16k (exactly $16,310) Brazen Games, Longtreader Games

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