Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Beat 'em up Sandbox?
Sandbox + Beat 'em up
Of 23 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up Sandbox 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.. 21 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2337 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 21 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,941) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 83 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.77 |
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 95% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Beat 'em up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.77 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Comic Book, Violent
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.77.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 10,485 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Batman™: Arkham Knight 2015 · $67M 
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition 2014 · $42M 
Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition 2012 · $34M 
Batman™: Arkham Origins 2013 · $27M 
Paint the Town Red 2021 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Batman™: Arkham Knight | older | $19.99 | 111,190 92% | 3.3M | $67M (exactly $66,680,643) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 70,499 94% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $42,278,250) | United Front Games, Feral Interactive (… (United Front Games, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition | older | $19.99 | 55,935 95% | 1.7M | $34M (exactly $33,544,219) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Batman™: Arkham Origins | older | $19.99 | 45,536 90% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,307,939) | WB Games Montreal, Splash Damage |
| | Paint the Town Red | older | $19.99 | 29,141 96% | 874k | $17M (exactly $17,475,858) | South East Games |
 | Bully: Scholarship Edition | older | $14.99 | 37,562 84% | 1.1M | $17M (exactly $16,891,631) | Rockstar New England |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | DEAD RISING® | older | $9.99 | 5,751 89% | 173k | $1.7M (exactly $1,723,575) | Capcom |
 | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
 | The friends of Ringo Ishikawa | older | $14.99 | 2,916 89% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,311,325) | yeo |
 | Beyond Sandbox | · EA | $19.99 | 1,223 39% | 37k | $733k (exactly $733,433) | Atlas XR |
 | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
 | Warspace 2 | $17.99 | 83 59% | 2.5k | $45k (exactly $44,795) | Magic Game Art | |
 | Drunkn Bar Fight 2 VR | · EA | $12.99 | 64 50% | 1.9k | $25k (exactly $24,941) | Yooperlite |
 | Melon Simulator™ | $4.99 | 74 85% | 2.2k | $11k (exactly $11,078) | Delirious & Co. | |
 | Nekurogahara: Ronin Psyche | $39.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $4.8k (exactly $4,799) | n1lknarf | |
 | Knockout Battle | $4.99 | 24 70% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Dani Tikka Masala, Alvin Leon Dobric, A… (Dani Tikka Masala, Alvin Leon Dobric, Anton Ploetner) | |
 | RAGING BILL | $19.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | ARTPUNK STUDIO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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