Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Futuristic

Of 42 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 80 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $89; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×1086 the market median. Revenue is up 620% on the market; 80 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 620% on the market, 80 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $6.3k → $2.4k → $359 → $179 → $9.0k → $719 (still earning) → $30 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $9.6k (exactly $9,595)
Top 5% $516k (exactly $515,816)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 148
Announced 80
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 up 620% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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
Futuristic
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, Combat, Hack and Slash
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 7,278 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $720, 1 in 4 over $9.5k, 1 in 20 over $510k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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

Remember Me 2013 · $10M Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 2025 · $3.9M M.A.S.S. Builder 2025 · $2.8M Spark the Electric Jester 3 2022 · $1.4M Kung Fury: Street Rage - Ultimate Edition 2015 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Remember Me older $29.99 11,128 83% 334k $10M (exactly $10,011,862) DONTNOD Entertainment
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital
Spark the Electric Jester 3 older $24.99 1,913 96% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,434,176) Feperd Games
Kung Fury: Street Rage - Ultimate Edition older $19.99 2,251 89% 68k $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) Hello There Games
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio
Trinity Fusion older $19.99 688 85% 21k $413k (exactly $412,594) Angry Mob Games
Slave Zero X older $24.99 438 75% 13k $328k (exactly $328,369) Poppy Works
The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors older $19.99 430 92% 13k $258k (exactly $257,871) Winning Entertainment Group Inc.
Advent NEON® $19.99 300 98% 9.0k $180k (exactly $179,910) CryoGX
FUTA FIGHT & FUCK 🥊 $14.99 115 92% 3.5k $52k (exactly $51,716) BanzaiProject
Shattered Realm Rebirth · EA $13.99 52 88% 1.6k $22k (exactly $21,824) kingnagame
Jenny the Witch $7.99 69 88% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Catbird Soft
OverRider · EA $9.99 50 82% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) Tension Meow
Disco Samurai $9.99 45 88% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Pixel Fiber Games
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio

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