Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Roguelike

Of 78 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 114 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×3723 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 114 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 114 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 78
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $955 → $2.3k → $1.3k → $1.0k → $2.5k → $1.5k → $1.9k (still earning) → $2.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 78
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,078)
Top 5% $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542)
Developers, 2 yr 78
Released games 200
Announced 114
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 90% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

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, Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 35,425 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 114 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

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. + 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

Sifu 2023 · $26M Paint the Town Red 2021 · $17M Rotwood 2026 · $6.7M Lost Castle 2 2026 · $5.9M Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
Paint the Town Red older $19.99 29,141 96% 874k $17M (exactly $17,475,858) South East Games
Rotwood $29.99 7,459 74% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) Klei Entertainment
Lost Castle 2 $17.99 10,851 78% 326k $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) Hunter Studio
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 older $9.99 18,417 87% 553k $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) Hunter Studio
Stick It to the Stickman · EA $11.99 7,918 96% 238k $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) Free Lives
Fights in Tight Spaces older $24.99 3,545 90% 106k $2.7M (exactly $2,657,686) Ground Shatter
Tears of Metal · EA $24.99 2,359 85% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542) Paper Cult
Going Under older $19.99 2,702 92% 81k $1.6M (exactly $1,620,389) Aggro Crab
DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION older $2.99 12,437 94% 373k $1.1M (exactly $1,115,599) Agafonoff
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
GOD FORSAKEN $13.99 1,728 67% 52k $725k (exactly $725,242) insight studio
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio
GODBREAKERS $19.99 813 70% 24k $488k (exactly $487,556) To The Sky
The Bleakest Keep $9.99 719 90% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Cache of Bones
Maktala: Slime Lootfest $4.99 1,345 79% 40k $201k (exactly $201,346) Samharia Studios

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