Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Score Attack

Of 36 developers who shipped a Score Attack 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.. 41 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 41 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 220% on the market, 41 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $836 → $449 → $449 → $299 → $0 → $748 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,180)
Top 5% $508k (exactly $508,297)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 131
Announced 41
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 220% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Score Attack
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, Score Attack; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Hack and Slash
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 3D, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 13,916 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $540, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $500k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 22 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. + RhythmFair17 devs · median $4.5k · 15 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair25 devs · median $1.2k · 20 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

Dead as Disco 2026 · EA · $9.3M MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics 2024 · $3.0M Big Helmet Heroes 2025 · $508k Kill The Crows 2023 · $426k Asterix & Obelix XXL: Romastered 2020 · $425k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics older $49.99 1,976 93% 59k $3.0M (exactly $2,963,407) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Big Helmet Heroes $24.99 678 78% 20k $508k (exactly $508,297) Exalted Studio
Kill The Crows older $4.99 2,848 95% 85k $426k (exactly $426,346) 5minlab Corp.
Asterix & Obelix XXL: Romastered older $19.99 708 78% 21k $425k (exactly $424,588) OSome Studio
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues older $19.99 417 84% 13k $250k (exactly $250,075) Flux Games
Shing! older $19.99 334 79% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Mass Creation
Pulling No Punches older $9.99 563 95% 17k $169k (exactly $168,731) BrainDead Broccoli
Double Dragon Revive $34.99 157 63% 4.7k $165k (exactly $164,803) YUKE’S
Buck Up And Drive! older $7.99 640 91% 19k $153k (exactly $153,408) Fábio Fontes
Rusty Seas $19.99 89 100% 2.7k $53k (exactly $53,373) Don't Feed the Wuff
Berserk or Die $3.99 354 74% 11k $42k (exactly $42,374) Nao Games
REDLINE CROOKS $11.99 73 100% 2.2k $26k (exactly $26,258) Alexander Golke
Jenny the Witch $7.99 69 88% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Catbird Soft
Disco Samurai $9.99 45 88% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Pixel Fiber Games
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio
Total Chaos Against Apathy $7.77 29 100% 870 $6.8k (exactly $6,760) Discade Project

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