Do I ship it?

GamesBeat 'em upBeat 'em up + Military

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Military Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Military

Only 14 developers shipped a Military Beat 'em up 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, Beyond Sandbox, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 5 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 745% on the market, 16 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Military
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $599 → $89 → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Military: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $1.2k (exactly $1,158)
Top 5% $733k (exactly $733,433)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 45
Announced 16
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 745% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Military
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Beat 'em up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 2,389 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.1k, 1 in 20 over $730k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Endorphin Vice · EA older $9.99 3,436 56% 103k $1.0M (exactly $1,029,769) Endorphin Studios
Beyond Sandbox · EA $19.99 1,223 39% 37k $733k (exactly $733,433) Atlas XR
Nitro Express $12.99 1,069 75% 32k $417k (exactly $416,589) Grayfax Software
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Zombie Training Simulator older $19.99 227 92% 6.8k $136k (exactly $136,132) Acceleroto, Inc.
Control Craft 2 older $4.99 274 72% 8.2k $41k (exactly $41,018) Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik
Save One More older $4.99 187 62% 5.6k $28k (exactly $27,994) Stas Shostak
RedEx older $7.99 111 77% 3.3k $27k (exactly $26,607) fraimone, NipoBox
MECHBLAZE older $9.99 78 93% 2.3k $23k (exactly $23,377) ASTRO PORT
Deadtime Defenders $9.99 48 79% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) Arcane Embers
Hentai USSR $0.99 39 87% 1.2k $1.2k (exactly $1,158) Who We Are Games
TYPER3000 $11.99 2 100% 60 $719 (exactly $719) ALBATROS
Stickman Physics Battle Arena $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) Kyle Hawks
Tank Brigade $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Dual B Games
QUICKN $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) g_sholar
Jailbreak Assault $0.99 3 100% 90 $89 (exactly $89) Instant Games Studio
Night of the Witch's Invasion $0.99 1 0% 30 $30 (exactly $30) AA Mini Games Studio

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