Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Nature

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Nature Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Nature

Of 22 developers who shipped a Nature 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.. 33 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 33 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 1245% on the market, 33 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Nature
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $120 → $0 → $1.2k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Nature: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $899 (exactly $899)
Top 5% $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 53
Announced 33
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 up 1245% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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
Nature
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.00 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.00 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 141 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 $150, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $1.4k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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

Tribal Hunter 2022 · $629k Utawarerumono: ZAN 2 2026 · $106k Firelight Fantasy: Vengeance 2022 · $60k Food Chain 2020 · EA · $17k ECHOLOCAUTION 2021 · $13k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tribal Hunter older $14.99 1,398 97% 42k $629k (exactly $628,681) Melonsoda Soft
Utawarerumono: ZAN 2 $39.99 88 82% 2.6k $106k (exactly $105,574) AQUAPLUS
Firelight Fantasy: Vengeance older $13.99 142 79% 4.3k $60k (exactly $59,597) Quacky Games
Food Chain · EA older $7.99 69 59% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Kozhakov
ECHOLOCAUTION older $4.99 88 100% 2.6k $13k (exactly $13,174) ハコニワハコビヤ
Platypus Adventures older $19.99 17 100% 510 $10k (exactly $10,195) Figtree Digital
Agent 01 older $19.99 8 75% 240 $4.8k (exactly $4,798) GamesBraz
Brave Survivor older $4.99 23 69% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Felio Stung ROG
Beers and Boomerangs older $4.99 21 100% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) Witty Platypus
Toxic place · EA older $12.99 7 42% 210 $2.7k (exactly $2,728) PrimoSalmon
Samurai's Odyssey · EA $7.99 6 66% 180 $1.4k (exactly $1,438) CODEUM GAMES, 11Gen
Kinap $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Golden Adam Games
Akasha: Taliokata's Tomb $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) ugokouhei
Endless Descent $15.00 2 100% 60 $900 (exactly $900) Emberlight Interactive
DinoGORE $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) David Mills
Morrigan's Isle · EA $6.99 4 100% 120 $839 (exactly $839) Null Reference Games
Slashboy $1.99 14 92% 420 $836 (exactly $836) Punch Game Project
Nuclear Lizard Island Rampage $2.99 4 75% 120 $359 (exactly $359) Andrew Connelly
Anders II: The Cursed Coast $1.99 3 33% 90 $179 (exactly $179) Andrew Simon

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