Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Exploration
Of 73 developers who shipped an Exploration 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.. 144 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×892 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 144 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $424k (exactly $423,580) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 234 |
| Announced | 144 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up, Exploration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 43,355 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + RhythmFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + NinjaLong shot
- + Combat RacingLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2025 · $60M 
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2022 · $59M 
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers 2022 · $23M 
Bully: Scholarship Edition 2008 · $17M 
Dust: An Elysian Tail 2013 · $6.4M | 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 |
| | Police Simulator: Patrol Officers | older | $39.99 | 18,880 75% | 566k | $23M (exactly $22,650,336) | Aesir Interactive |
| | Bully: Scholarship Edition | older | $14.99 | 37,562 84% | 1.1M | $17M (exactly $16,891,631) | Rockstar New England |
| | Dust: An Elysian Tail | older | $14.99 | 14,250 95% | 428k | $6.4M (exactly $6,408,225) | Humble Hearts LLC |
 | Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- | older | $19.99 | 7,132 92% | 214k | $4.3M (exactly $4,277,060) | Team Ladybug, WSS playground |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | NINJA GAIDEN Σ [NINJA GAIDEN: Master Collection] | older | $39.99 | 2,492 82% | 75k | $3.0M (exactly $2,989,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun | older | $19.99 | 3,829 66% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,296,251) | ZUIJIANGYUE Game |
 | Soulstice | older | $39.99 | 1,845 76% | 55k | $2.2M (exactly $2,213,446) | Reply Game Studios |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | BLACKWOOD | $24.99 | 565 46% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | AttritoM7 Productions | |
 | Kong: Survivor Instinct | $24.99 | 338 71% | 10k | $253k (exactly $253,399) | 7Levels | |
 | Brush Burial: Gutter World | $9.99 | 838 93% | 25k | $251k (exactly $251,149) | Knife Demon Software | |
 | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
 | Oh So Hero! | $9.99 | 255 94% | 7.7k | $76k (exactly $76,424) | Full Frontal Frog | |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.