Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Beat 'em up Hero Shooter?
Hero Shooter + Beat 'em up
Only 18 developers shipped a Beat 'em up Hero Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Superhero Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.4 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper, while revenue is up 70% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $478 (exactly $478) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,160) |
| Top 5% | $156k (exactly $155,800) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 70% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hero Shooter
- effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Hero Shooter, Beat 'em up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Comic Book
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 1,180 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hero Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + MedievalLong shot
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SuperheroPoor odds
- + Battle RoyalePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
Comparable games
Superhero Simulator 2025 · EA · $156k 
Black Gunner Wukong 2024 · $125k 
WILD SEX: WET GIRLS 2023 · $61k 
LUST Eternal 🔞 2025 · $32k 
Bakemono - Demon Brigade Tenmen Unit 01 2020 · EA · $10k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
| | Black Gunner Wukong | older | $9.99 | 417 98% | 13k | $125k (exactly $124,975) | Wukong |
| | WILD SEX: WET GIRLS | older | $9.99 | 203 60% | 6.1k | $61k (exactly $60,839) | Octo Games |
| | LUST Eternal 🔞 | $4.99 | 212 55% | 6.4k | $32k (exactly $31,736) | Octo Games | |
| | Bakemono - Demon Brigade Tenmen Unit 01 | · EA older | $19.99 | 17 70% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | SuperSane Games |
 | Agent in Depth | older | $2.99 | 108 93% | 3.2k | $9.7k (exactly $9,688) | Naturepixel Studios, SkyBrave |
 | Gachi: Space Orgasm | older | $1.99 | 156 75% | 4.7k | $9.3k (exactly $9,313) | Octo Games |
 | H.E.N.T.A.L.K.E.R. | older | $0.99 | 301 78% | 9.0k | $8.9k (exactly $8,940) | Who We Are Games |
 | SpearFrog | older | $24.99 | 11 81% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Gamesforgames |
 | Magic War | older | $24.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $7.5k (exactly $7,497) | Gamesforgames |
 | Captain Gazman Day Of The Rage | $6.99 | 31 96% | 930 | $6.5k (exactly $6,501) | Les Kalifas, Kazarma, VEB Videospielewe… (Les Kalifas, Kazarma, VEB Videospielewerk 'Bewegungsdruiden') | |
 | Super Weapon Master 超级武器大师 | $3.99 | 21 57% | 630 | $2.5k (exactly $2,514) | Idea Cat | |
 | GUN.DOG.REVENGE | $4.00 | 18 100% | 540 | $2.2k (exactly $2,160) | MEWSTURBO | |
 | Big Theft Valkeala 3 Revenge | $2.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) | Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software | |
 | Armed Animals RPG | $15.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $959 (exactly $959) | Strejda Jenda Productions | |
 | DEFENSORES DEL BARRIO | $4.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | PERNICH MEDIA | |
 | Last Stand: Zombie Horde | $1.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $478 (exactly $478) | KOZGAMES | |
 | Urban Rangers Arcade 2 | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | Anthems-0 |
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.