Do I ship it?

GamesBeat 'em upBeat 'em up + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + War

Only 13 developers shipped a War Beat 'em up 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, Tears of Metal, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 500% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 15 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $60k → $9.0k → $90 → $5.8k → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,846)
Top 5% $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 50
Announced 15
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 500% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Stylized, Third Person, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 9 games average 83% positive over 2,625 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $300, 1 in 4 over $5.8k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Beat 'em up with a different setting or mood, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sifu older $39.99 21,620 92% 649k $26M (exactly $25,937,514) Sloclap
Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun older $19.99 3,829 66% 115k $2.3M (exactly $2,296,251) ZUIJIANGYUE Game
Tears of Metal · EA $24.99 2,359 85% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542) Paper Cult
Tales Of Glory older $10.99 1,042 80% 31k $344k (exactly $343,547) BlackTale Games
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Double Dragon Revive $34.99 157 63% 4.7k $165k (exactly $164,803) YUKE’S
Swords Fantasy: Battlefield · EA older $11.99 167 78% 5.0k $60k (exactly $60,070) Quacky Games
Control Craft 2 older $4.99 274 72% 8.2k $41k (exactly $41,018) Cristian Manolachi, Atomic Fabrik
universe treasure older $13.99 91 58% 2.7k $38k (exactly $38,193) モンスター研
Save One More older $4.99 187 62% 5.6k $28k (exactly $27,994) Stas Shostak
Banner of Conquest $4.99 89 65% 2.7k $13k (exactly $13,323) Haojoy Game
War of Wheels · EA $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Dreambits Studio
Tank Brigade $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Dual B Games
Pix'Hard $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) NOUTE
Humans Vs Orcs $4.99 2 0% 60 $299 (exactly $299) ShakyHand
Galactic Slice $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) BulbIdeas
Ant protect the queen $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) warlock dungeon
Heinz Honor and Revenge $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Melongaming

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