Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Magic

Of 52 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 93 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $130; 1 in 20 cleared $77k, ×163 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 93 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 93 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $210 → $748 → $839 → $2.5k → $2.5k → $449 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $130 (exactly $130)
Median $836 (exactly $836)
Top 25% $3.4k (exactly $3,418)
Top 5% $77k (exactly $77,387)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 149
Announced 93
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 60% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Magic
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
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Hand-drawn
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 1,082 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $130, median $840, 1 in 4 over $3.4k, 1 in 20 over $77k.

3 in 10 developers made under $130. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time 2018 · $1.3M Sacred 3 2014 · $975k BAKERU 2024 · $455k Swordsman VR 2020 · $390k Mirror of Heaven 2024 · $276k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time older $39.99 1,100 76% 33k $1.3M (exactly $1,319,670) APLUS Co., Ltd
Sacred 3 older $14.99 2,169 26% 65k $975k (exactly $975,399) Keen Games
BAKERU older $39.99 379 94% 11k $455k (exactly $454,686) Good-Feel Co., Ltd.
Swordsman VR older $19.99 651 68% 20k $390k (exactly $390,405) Sinn Studio Inc.
Mirror of Heaven older $9.25 995 79% 30k $276k (exactly $276,112) EnjoyPlay Ltd
Asterix & Obelix XXL 3 - The Crystal Menhir older $19.99 360 61% 11k $216k (exactly $215,892) OSome Studio
Arisen Force: HeroTest $10.99 374 82% 11k $123k (exactly $123,308) Lemport
Demon Sword: Incubus older $19.99 184 76% 5.5k $110k (exactly $110,345) Brianode
Utawarerumono: ZAN 2 $39.99 88 82% 2.6k $106k (exactly $105,574) AQUAPLUS
Reaper - Tale of a Pale Swordsman older $9.99 290 74% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) Hexage
Disgaea Mayhem $59.99 43 65% 1.3k $77k (exactly $77,387) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Final Knight · EA $13.99 180 77% 5.4k $76k (exactly $75,546) 2oclocksoft
Paper Animal Adventure · EA $14.99 139 95% 4.2k $63k (exactly $62,508) Cuddling Raccoons Studio
SoulQuest $19.99 97 81% 2.9k $58k (exactly $58,171) SoulBlade Studio LLC, TomasJPereyra
King's Blade $8.99 49 81% 1.5k $13k (exactly $13,215) Alexey Suslin
Astropods: Starside Glaze $12.50 28 100% 840 $11k (exactly $10,500) CheesiMoon, Breadbinbran
Magical Hellhound Lust · EA $19.99 13 53% 390 $7.8k (exactly $7,796) Mildaponno
DEAD DAYLIGHT $2.99 71 88% 2.1k $6.4k (exactly $6,369) KARMIU

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