Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Platformer
Should I ship a Platformer Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Platformer
Of 82 developers who shipped a Platformer 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.. 158 more are announced, ×3.5 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 $60; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×355 the market median. Revenue is up 105% on the market; 158 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 5% | $168k (exactly $168,389) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 347 |
| Announced | 158 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 105% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up, Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 11,312 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 158 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + RhythmFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + NinjaLong shot
- + Combat RacingLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M 
Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M 
DmC: Devil May Cry 2013 · $19M 
Remember Me 2013 · $10M 
Dust: An Elysian Tail 2013 · $6.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
| | Hi-Fi RUSH | older | $29.99 | 27,454 97% | 824k | $25M (exactly $24,700,364) | Tango Gameworks |
| | DmC: Devil May Cry | older | $29.99 | 20,938 93% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,837,919) | Ninja Theory |
| | Remember Me | older | $29.99 | 11,128 83% | 334k | $10M (exactly $10,011,862) | DONTNOD Entertainment |
| | Dust: An Elysian Tail | older | $14.99 | 14,250 95% | 428k | $6.4M (exactly $6,408,225) | Humble Hearts LLC |
 | STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,732 77% | 262k | $5.2M (exactly $5,236,580) | LucasArts |
 | Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | older | $29.99 | 5,004 92% | 150k | $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) | Edelweiss |
 | Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- | older | $19.99 | 7,132 92% | 214k | $4.3M (exactly $4,277,060) | Team Ladybug, WSS playground |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | The Legend of Tianding | older | $19.99 | 3,272 94% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | Creative Games Computer Graphics Corpor… (Creative Games Computer Graphics Corporation, Neon Doctrine) |
 | Nitro Express | $12.99 | 1,069 75% | 32k | $417k (exactly $416,589) | Grayfax Software | |
 | Kong: Survivor Instinct | $24.99 | 338 71% | 10k | $253k (exactly $253,399) | 7Levels | |
 | Advent NEON® | $19.99 | 300 98% | 9.0k | $180k (exactly $179,910) | CryoGX | |
 | Zad Archery | $6.99 | 803 73% | 24k | $168k (exactly $168,389) | Samharia Studios | |
 | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | Decline's Drops | $14.99 | 170 96% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Le Moulin aux Bulles | |
 | IGNOBLE | $6.99 | 331 82% | 9.9k | $69k (exactly $69,411) | Retromagine | |
 | SoulQuest | $19.99 | 97 81% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $58,171) | SoulBlade Studio LLC, TomasJPereyra | |
 | Magenta Horizon - Neverending Harvest | $10.99 | 175 89% | 5.3k | $58k (exactly $57,698) | Maddison Baek |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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