Do I ship it?

GamesBeat 'em upBeat 'em up + Rhythm

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Rhythm Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Rhythm

Only 17 developers shipped a Rhythm 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, Dead as Disco, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×9.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $89. Revenue is up 840% on the market; 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 840% on the market, 15 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Rhythm
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $300 → $0 → $3.7k → $1.9k → $10k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Rhythm: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,497)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,486)
Top 5% $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 56
Announced 15
Effort 4 / 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 840% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Rhythm
effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights

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, Rhythm; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Combat
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 15,346 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Beat 'em up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $76k · 13 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair25 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  3. + Score AttackFair36 devs · median $539 · 41 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair11 devs · median $537 · 8 announced
  5. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $416 · 19 announced
  6. + NinjaLong shot29 devs · median $359 · 30 announced
  7. + Combat RacingLong shot15 devs · median $89 · 15 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  9. + LootPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 29 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds74 devs · median $11k · 125 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds45 devs · median $11k · 71 announced
  12. + Local Co-OpPoor odds68 devs · median $9.0k · 94 announced

All 126 pairs on the Beat 'em up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hi-Fi RUSH older $29.99 27,454 97% 824k $25M (exactly $24,700,364) Tango Gameworks
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Yakuza 5 Remastered older $19.99 6,199 88% 186k $3.7M (exactly $3,717,540) RGG Studio
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
One Finger Death Punch older $4.99 12,548 97% 376k $1.9M (exactly $1,878,436) Silver Dollar Games
FIGHT KNIGHT older $19.99 1,547 91% 46k $928k (exactly $927,736) Team Sorcerobe
One Finger Death Punch 2 older $7.99 3,717 96% 112k $891k (exactly $890,965) Silver Dollar Games
ADEN $8.99 670 96% 20k $181k (exactly $180,699) takayakata
God of Rock older $29.99 54 50% 1.6k $49k (exactly $48,584) Maximum Entertainment
TERRORHYTHM (TRRT) - Rhythm driven action beat 'em up! older $19.99 47 72% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,186) EvilCoGames
Disco Samurai $9.99 45 88% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Pixel Fiber Games
RHYTHMKILL $9.99 45 82% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) GETTAKE
Soulbound Roguelike $9.99 34 82% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) DuDu Games
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio
RAGER $19.99 16 100% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) Insane Prey
PopSlinger Vol. 2 - Loveless $14.99 10 100% 300 $4.5k (exactly $4,497) Funky Can Creative
Popcorn Popstars · EA $4.99 13 92% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) ROGUE6

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