Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Sci-fi
Of 67 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 140 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×1026 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 140 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $13,786) |
| Top 5% | $488k (exactly $487,556) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 67 |
| Released games | 265 |
| Announced | 140 |
| 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 down 35% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 9,033 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 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
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M 
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2022 · $59M 
Remember Me 2013 · $10M 
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE 2022 · $8.8M 
Furi 2016 · $6.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE | older | $29.99 | 69,104 96% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $62,172,869) | PlatinumGames |
| | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | older | $49.99 | 39,234 93% | 1.2M | $59M (exactly $58,839,230) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
| | Remember Me | older | $29.99 | 11,128 83% | 334k | $10M (exactly $10,011,862) | DONTNOD Entertainment |
| | SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE | older | $59.99 | 4,892 62% | 147k | $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) | ARTDINK |
| | Furi | older | $19.99 | 11,246 90% | 337k | $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) | The Game Bakers |
 | STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,732 77% | 262k | $5.2M (exactly $5,236,580) | LucasArts |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | SAND LAND | older | $59.99 | 1,018 86% | 31k | $1.8M (exactly $1,832,095) | ILCA, Inc. |
 | Gravity Circuit | older | $16.99 | 3,028 94% | 91k | $1.5M (exactly $1,543,372) | Domesticated Ant Games |
 | 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 | |
 | Kong: Survivor Instinct | $24.99 | 338 71% | 10k | $253k (exactly $253,399) | 7Levels | |
 | STAR WARS™: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles™ | $19.99 | 355 78% | 11k | $213k (exactly $212,893) | Aspyr | |
 | ADEN | $8.99 | 670 96% | 20k | $181k (exactly $180,699) | takayakata | |
 | Utawarerumono: ZAN | $39.99 | 85 77% | 2.6k | $102k (exactly $101,974) | AQUAPLUS | |
 | TRON: Catalyst | $19.99 | 104 71% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | Bithell Games | |
 | Rusty Seas | $19.99 | 89 100% | 2.7k | $53k (exactly $53,373) | Don't Feed the Wuff |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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