Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Mythology

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mythological Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Mythology

Only 13 developers shipped a Mythological 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, Utawarerumono: ZAN 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×168 the market median. Revenue is up 1280% on the market; 28 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 1280% on the market, 28 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Mythology
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: $70k → $839 → $3.4k → $14k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Mythology: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $839 (exactly $839)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,394)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,191)
Top 5% $106k (exactly $105,574)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 50
Announced 28
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 1280% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Mythology
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Beat 'em up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 474 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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

WARRIORS OROCHI 4 2018 · $8.0M Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin 2020 · $4.5M Unruly Heroes 2019 · $458k Tunche 2021 · $371k Fight of Gods 2019 · $343k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WARRIORS OROCHI 4 older $59.99 4,424 85% 133k $8.0M (exactly $7,961,873) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin older $29.99 5,004 92% 150k $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) Edelweiss
Unruly Heroes older $19.99 763 74% 23k $458k (exactly $457,571) Magic Design Studios
Tunche older $19.99 618 73% 19k $371k (exactly $370,615) LEAP Game Studios
Fight of Gods older $14.99 762 83% 23k $343k (exactly $342,671) Digital Crafter
Mirror of Heaven older $9.25 995 79% 30k $276k (exactly $276,112) EnjoyPlay Ltd
Skybreakers older $8.99 629 75% 19k $170k (exactly $169,641) Bingo Studio
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
Drakkar Crew older $14.99 155 80% 4.7k $70k (exactly $69,704) SiBear Games
SoulQuest $19.99 97 81% 2.9k $58k (exactly $58,171) SoulBlade Studio LLC, TomasJPereyra
Immortal Hunters $19.99 95 67% 2.9k $57k (exactly $56,971) Admiral Games
Grim Trials $17.99 30 83% 900 $16k (exactly $16,191) Glory Jam
Obey the Insect God $19.99 23 100% 690 $14k (exactly $13,793) Chunkle Freaky's Movies Games, Charles… (Chunkle Freaky's Movies Games, Charles Davis)
Clavis Kinkygate: Treasure of Danau River $4.99 23 34% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) 淫門之鑰工作室
Banished Knight $3.99 20 95% 600 $2.4k (exactly $2,394) Moss Studio
Absence of Light $5.99 10 70% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) Boa Noite
Twins of the Sun $9.99 3 66% 90 $899 (exactly $899) COMMANDO PANDA

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