Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up Survival game?

Survival + Beat 'em up

Of 61 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up Survival game 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.. 63 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 34 developers shipped in the last year and 63 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 63 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $178 → $599 → $1.3k → $330 → $359 → $210 → $180 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $900 (exactly $900)
Top 5% $12k (exactly $11,692)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 189
Announced 63
Effort 6 / 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 80% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Survival
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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival, Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Combat
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 648 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $300, 1 in 4 over $900, 1 in 20 over $11k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DEAD RISING® older $9.99 5,751 89% 173k $1.7M (exactly $1,723,575) Capcom
Skybreakers older $8.99 629 75% 19k $170k (exactly $169,641) Bingo Studio
Zombie Training Simulator older $19.99 227 92% 6.8k $136k (exactly $136,132) Acceleroto, Inc.
Chicken Assassin: Reloaded older $4.99 715 94% 21k $107k (exactly $107,036) OneShark
Abyss Kitchen $11.99 202 89% 6.1k $73k (exactly $72,659) Pico Games
WILD SEX: WET GIRLS older $9.99 203 60% 6.1k $61k (exactly $60,839) Octo Games
universe treasure older $13.99 91 58% 2.7k $38k (exactly $38,193) モンスター研
MoonMiners · EA $4.99 200 93% 6.0k $30k (exactly $29,940) MIROWIN
My Night Job older $9.99 58 82% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,383) Webcore Games
Food Chain · EA older $7.99 69 59% 2.1k $17k (exactly $16,539) Kozhakov
Gorilla Vs 100 Men $4.99 81 70% 2.4k $12k (exactly $12,126) GrodGames
Adrenaline Rampage $14.99 26 88% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) Midhard Games
Apocalypse Survivors $8.99 26 57% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) The Last One
Project Lazarus 2 $6.99 33 75% 990 $6.9k (exactly $6,920) Terapoly
Dough or Die · EA $7.99 16 100% 480 $3.8k (exactly $3,835) Soundbyte Interactive
Tokyo Waning Moon $3.99 25 92% 750 $3.0k (exactly $2,992) Midnight Cupcakes
Flee the fallen $4.99 18 83% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) AM Playhouse
Super Weapon Master 超级武器大师 $3.99 21 57% 630 $2.5k (exactly $2,514) Idea Cat

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