Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Post-apocalyptic

Of 25 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 70 more are announced, ×8.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $49k, ×78 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 70 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 70 announced, ×8.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $300 → $4.6k → $599 → $3.6k → $6.4k → $1.5k
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $8.1k (exactly $8,092)
Top 5% $49k (exactly $49,151)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 92
Announced 70
Effort 5 / 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 85% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Post-apocalyptic
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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Side Scroller
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 82% positive over 4,329 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $8.0k, 1 in 20 over $49k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.8 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

M.A.S.S. Builder 2025 · $2.8M Fight'N Rage 2017 · $1.5M Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons 2023 · $952k Insect Swarm 2024 · $522k Kill The Crows 2023 · $426k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital
Fight'N Rage older $19.99 2,557 92% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,533,433) sebagamesdev
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons older $24.99 1,270 86% 38k $952k (exactly $952,119) Secret Base
Insect Swarm older $6.99 2,491 84% 75k $522k (exactly $522,363) Parallel Portal
Kill The Crows older $4.99 2,848 95% 85k $426k (exactly $426,346) 5minlab Corp.
Slave Zero X older $24.99 438 75% 13k $328k (exactly $328,369) Poppy Works
Obsurity older $12.99 256 72% 7.7k $100k (exactly $99,763) Game Dynasty
Blind Fate: Edo no Yami older $19.99 131 61% 3.9k $79k (exactly $78,561) Troglobytes Games
Night Slashers: Remake $9.99 164 61% 4.9k $49k (exactly $49,151) Storm Trident S.A.
Control Craft 2 older $4.99 274 72% 8.2k $41k (exactly $41,018) Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik
Vengeance Hunters $19.99 63 84% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Nalua Studio SLU
LUST Eternal 🔞 $4.99 212 55% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,736) Octo Games
RAGER $19.99 16 100% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) Insane Prey
Ra Ra BOOM $19.99 15 66% 450 $9.0k (exactly $8,996) Gylee Games
Hellwatch $9.99 27 44% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) FG
Apocalypse Survivors $8.99 26 57% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) The Last One
DEAD DAYLIGHT $2.99 71 88% 2.1k $6.4k (exactly $6,369) KARMIU
Lone Wolf $19.99 6 100% 180 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) Play-Em

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