Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up Tactical game?

Tactical + Beat 'em up

Only 18 developers shipped a Beat 'em up Tactical game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 34 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 34 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $239 → $119 → $60 → $96k → $150 → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Top 5% $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 61
Announced 34
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 down 10% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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.

Tactical
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
Tactical, Beat 'em up; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RTS, Action RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Comic Book
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,551 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 $180, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Fights in Tight Spaces older $24.99 3,545 90% 106k $2.7M (exactly $2,657,686) Ground Shatter
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Suit for Hire $14.99 3,263 92% 98k $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) Godmode Interactive
Punch A Bunch older $14.99 963 74% 29k $433k (exactly $433,061) Pontypants
Tactic Boxing older $9.99 416 77% 12k $125k (exactly $124,675) Stately Eagle Games
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown $19.99 160 89% 4.8k $96k (exactly $95,952) Strange Scaffold
Magical Battle Festa older $9.99 263 68% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) Fly System
Boreal Blade older $3.99 451 71% 14k $54k (exactly $53,985) Frozenbyte
Godzilla Voxel Wars older $14.99 113 94% 3.4k $51k (exactly $50,816) TOHO CO., LTD., Nukenin
Reloader: test_subject older $0.99 295 92% 8.9k $8.8k (exactly $8,762) Nevertheless Studio
WEAPON MASTER $3.99 16 100% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,915) SamAFEI, ONE SHOT STUDIO
Gangs Of Asia · EA $9.99 6 100% 180 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Moonpunch
BULLET GIRL:ZOMBIE DEFENSE $3.99 8 100% 240 $958 (exactly $958) Sojourner. Game
Pix'Hard $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) NOUTE
Battle Mayhem $2.99 2 100% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Sam Farnsley
Anders III: Coast Of Pain $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Andrew Simon
Bear Brigade: Ocean Attack! $5.00 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Nodnin Studios

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