Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Top-Down Shooter

Of 42 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter 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.. 59 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 21 developers shipped in the last year and 59 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 59 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $1.3k → $1.3k → $120 → $327 → $179 → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $537 (exactly $537)
Top 5% $32k (exactly $31,784)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 128
Announced 59
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 115% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
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, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 3,549 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $180, 1 in 4 over $530, 1 in 20 over $31k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

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. + Score AttackFair36 devs · median $539 · 41 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair11 devs · median $537 · 8 announced
  6. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $416 · 19 announced
  7. + NinjaLong shot29 devs · median $359 · 30 announced
  8. + Combat RacingLong shot15 devs · median $89 · 15 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  10. + LootPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 29 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds74 devs · median $11k · 125 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds45 devs · median $11k · 71 announced

All 126 pairs on the Beat 'em up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

APE OUT 2019 · $1.7M Suit for Hire 2025 · $1.5M Midnight Fight Express 2022 · $1.2M Alien Shooter 2009 · $587k Insect Swarm 2024 · $522k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
APE OUT older $14.99 3,733 94% 112k $1.7M (exactly $1,678,730) Gabe Cuzzillo, Bennett Foddy, Maxi Boch
Suit for Hire $14.99 3,263 92% 98k $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) Godmode Interactive
Midnight Fight Express older $19.99 1,981 90% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,188,006) Jacob Dzwinel
Alien Shooter older $4.99 3,919 95% 118k $587k (exactly $586,674) Sigma Team Inc.
Insect Swarm older $6.99 2,491 84% 75k $522k (exactly $522,363) Parallel Portal
Kill The Crows older $4.99 2,848 95% 85k $426k (exactly $426,346) 5minlab Corp.
Mr. Shifty older $14.99 855 88% 26k $384k (exactly $384,494) Team Shifty
Bloodroots older $19.99 230 89% 6.9k $138k (exactly $137,931) Paper Cult
Gimbal older $14.99 130 79% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,461) 8888888 LABS
Space Robinson: Hardcore Roguelike Action older $9.99 162 66% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,551) Luxorix Games
Warspace 2 $17.99 83 59% 2.5k $45k (exactly $44,795) Magic Game Art
Memory Lost $19.99 53 92% 1.6k $32k (exactly $31,784) Magic Hazard
Banner of Conquest $4.99 89 65% 2.7k $13k (exactly $13,323) Haojoy Game
Apocalypse Survivors $8.99 26 57% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) The Last One
Tackle for Loss $10.99 20 100% 600 $6.6k (exactly $6,594) Indifferent Penguin
Boss Breaker $9.99 8 100% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) Fifth Edge Studios
Armed Animals RPG $15.99 2 100% 60 $959 (exactly $959) Strejda Jenda Productions
TYPER3000 $11.99 2 100% 60 $719 (exactly $719) ALBATROS
Tenvader $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Rikerat

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