Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Psychological Horror
Only 8 developers shipped a Psychological-Horror 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, ADEN, 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, ×8.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $9.3k against a market of $480. 16 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) |
| Top 25% | $168k (exactly $168,030) |
| Top 5% | $181k (exactly $180,699) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 65% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- 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
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 7,813 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different setting or mood, 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
Mother Russia Bleeds 2016 · $2.0M 
ADEN 2024 · $181k 
Halluci-Sabbat of Koishi 2024 · $168k 
SiNiSistar Lite Version 2021 · $128k 
Slavistan 2016 · $54k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mother Russia Bleeds | older | $14.99 | 4,354 87% | 131k | $2.0M (exactly $1,957,994) | Le Cartel Studio |
| | ADEN | $8.99 | 670 96% | 20k | $181k (exactly $180,699) | takayakata | |
| | Halluci-Sabbat of Koishi | $7.99 | 701 91% | 21k | $168k (exactly $168,030) | ZRIGN 地霊研究院 | |
| | SiNiSistar Lite Version | older | $4.99 | 858 85% | 26k | $128k (exactly $128,443) | Uu |
| | Slavistan | older | $2.99 | 600 90% | 18k | $54k (exactly $53,820) | Free Candy Games |
 | Skautfold: Into the Fray | older | $9.99 | 85 89% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | Steve Gal |
 | シシテナオ-Even in Death- | $9.99 | 75 94% | 2.3k | $22k (exactly $22,478) | Mugen Daraku | |
 | Deep Dark Fight | older | $2.99 | 107 75% | 3.2k | $9.6k (exactly $9,598) | EncoderX |
 | Creepy Creepy Love | $4.99 | 62 93% | 1.9k | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) | BYYONI Entertainment | |
 | H.E.N.T.A.L.K.E.R. | older | $0.99 | 301 78% | 9.0k | $8.9k (exactly $8,940) | Who We Are Games |
 | Nekurogahara: Ronin Psyche | $39.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $4.8k (exactly $4,799) | n1lknarf | |
 | Last Stand: Zombie Horde | $1.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $478 (exactly $478) | KOZGAMES | |
 | Smogshadow Hunter | $0.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $30 (exactly $30) | AA Mini Games Studio | |
 | soul balance | $1.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | SpringBone |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.