Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Robots

Of 25 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 51 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 51 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 per shipper, while revenue is up 720% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 720% on the market, 51 announced, ×5.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Robots
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: $9.0k → $3.3k → $299 → $419 → $6.3k → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,192)
Top 5% $915k (exactly $915,384)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 82
Announced 51
Effort 5 / 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 720% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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
Robots
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Hack and Slash
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Third Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,716 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $420, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $910k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 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

Hi-Fi RUSH 2023 · $25M SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE 2022 · $8.8M M.A.S.S. Builder 2025 · $2.8M Gravity Circuit 2023 · $1.5M KIBORG 2025 · $915k
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
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE older $59.99 4,892 62% 147k $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) ARTDINK
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital
Gravity Circuit older $16.99 3,028 94% 91k $1.5M (exactly $1,543,372) Domesticated Ant Games
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors older $19.99 430 92% 13k $258k (exactly $257,871) Winning Entertainment Group Inc.
Project Demigod older $19.99 397 69% 12k $238k (exactly $238,081) Omnifarious Studios LLC
Heart&Slash older $14.99 519 81% 16k $233k (exactly $233,394) AHEARTFULOFGAMES
Megabyte Punch older $14.99 409 94% 12k $184k (exactly $183,927) Team Reptile
Advent NEON® $19.99 300 98% 9.0k $180k (exactly $179,910) CryoGX
Vengeance Hunters $19.99 63 84% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Nalua Studio SLU
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Jenny the Witch $7.99 69 88% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Catbird Soft
Rebel Engine $19.99 27 81% 810 $16k (exactly $16,192) Seven Leaf Clover
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
Keys of Fury: Typing Action $4.99 42 97% 1.3k $6.3k (exactly $6,287) Elecorn

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