Do I ship it?

Games › Loot › Loot + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Beat 'em up?

Loot + Beat 'em up

Of 20 developers who shipped a Loot 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.. 29 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $13k, ×20 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.8M, ×6145 the market median. Revenue is up 4210% on the market; 29 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 4210% on the market, 29 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $210 → $7.0k → $45k → $17k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Median $13k (exactly $12,724)
Top 25% $168k (exactly $168,389)
Top 5% $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 54
Announced 29
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 4210% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Beat 'em up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Combat
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Stylized, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 8,163 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.0k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $160k, 1 in 20 over $3.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 2025 · $3.9M Towerborne 2026 · $792k GOD FORSAKEN 2026 · $725k GODBREAKERS 2025 · $488k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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.
Towerborne $24.99 1,057 69% 32k $792k (exactly $792,433) Stoic
GOD FORSAKEN $13.99 1,728 67% 52k $725k (exactly $725,242) insight studio
GODBREAKERS $19.99 813 70% 24k $488k (exactly $487,556) To The Sky
Bravery and Greed older $19.99 640 78% 19k $384k (exactly $383,808) Rekka Games
Young Souls older $24.99 494 84% 15k $370k (exactly $370,352) 1P2P
Raw Metal older $19.99 452 88% 14k $271k (exactly $271,064) Team Crucible
Son of a Witch older $23.99 350 84% 11k $252k (exactly $251,895) Bigosaur
Maktala: Slime Lootfest $4.99 1,345 79% 40k $201k (exactly $201,346) Samharia Studios
Zad Archery $6.99 803 73% 24k $168k (exactly $168,389) Samharia Studios
Final Knight · EA $13.99 180 77% 5.4k $76k (exactly $75,546) 2oclocksoft
Warspace 2 $17.99 83 59% 2.5k $45k (exactly $44,795) Magic Game Art
MoonMiners · EA $4.99 200 93% 6.0k $30k (exactly $29,940) MIROWIN
Desktop Nard: Dice Idle $4.99 116 67% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) Samharia Studios

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