Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up JRPG?

JRPG + Beat 'em up

Only 13 developers shipped a Beat 'em up JRPG 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, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.4M, ×3888 the market median. Revenue is up 61095% on the market; 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 61095% on the market, 15 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $106k → $123k → $150 → $91k → $92k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 25% $92k (exactly $91,724)
Top 5% $2.4M (exactly $2,441,512)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 61
Announced 15
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 61095% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 2%, 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.

JRPG
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
JRPG, Beat 'em up; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Adventure
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 7,475 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $91k, 1 in 20 over $2.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds12 devs · median $54k · 6 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds43 devs · median $21k · 23 announced
  3. + NinjaFair7 devs · median $19k · 10 announced
  4. + RomanceFair153 devs · median $13k · 164 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair219 devs · median $13k · 265 announced
  6. + ManagementFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  9. + LootFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair25 devs · median $4.0k · 21 announced

All 142 pairs on the JRPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth older $69.99 16,339 90% 490k $34M (exactly $34,306,998) RGG Studio
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT older $19.99 43,951 92% 1.3M $26M (exactly $26,357,415) CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd.
DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition older $49.99 11,886 83% 357k $18M (exactly $17,825,434) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name older $49.99 9,118 95% 274k $14M (exactly $13,674,265) RGG Studio
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 older $51.98 8,458 79% 254k $13M (exactly $13,189,405) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
WARRIORS OROCHI 4 older $59.99 4,424 85% 133k $8.0M (exactly $7,961,873) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Fate/EXTELLA LINK older $49.99 4,209 92% 126k $6.3M (exactly $6,312,237) Marvelous Inc.
Like a Dragon: Ishin! older $39.99 4,891 80% 147k $5.9M (exactly $5,867,733) RGG Studio
Granblue Fantasy: Versus older $19.99 7,631 83% 229k $4.6M (exactly $4,576,311) Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works
SENRAN KAGURA ESTIVAL VERSUS older $29.99 4,986 94% 150k $4.5M (exactly $4,485,904) Tamsoft
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties $59.99 2,229 62% 67k $4.0M (exactly $4,011,531) RGG Studio
Yakuza 0 Director's Cut $49.99 1,628 80% 49k $2.4M (exactly $2,441,512) RGG Studio
Yakuza Kiwami $19.99 1,334 82% 40k $800k (exactly $800,000) RGG Studio
Yakuza Kiwami 2 $19.99 1,135 82% 34k $681k (exactly $680,660) RGG Studio
Arisen Force: HeroTest $10.99 374 82% 11k $123k (exactly $123,308) Lemport
Utawarerumono: ZAN 2 $39.99 88 82% 2.6k $106k (exactly $105,574) AQUAPLUS
Utawarerumono: ZAN $39.99 85 77% 2.6k $102k (exactly $101,974) AQUAPLUS
Warrior of Lust $11.99 255 79% 7.7k $92k (exactly $91,724) Aerisetta
Femtazio $9.99 304 81% 9.1k $91k (exactly $91,109) Aerisetta
Disgaea Mayhem $59.99 43 65% 1.3k $77k (exactly $77,387) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.

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