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Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Boss Rush game?
Boss Rush + Dark Fantasy
Only 17 developers shipped a Dark-Fantasy Boss Rush 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, Rubinite, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3425 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 30 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,124) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 30 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Boss Rush
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Boss Rush; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Souls-like
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 6,465 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Boss Rush with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RPGFair
- + Action RoguelikeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + ShooterFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + Action-AdventurePoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rubinite | $19.99 | 3,587 94% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,124) | Cup Dog Games, GameWorks Ventures | |
| | Eldest Souls | older | $19.99 | 3,125 76% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,062) | Fallen Flag Studio |
| | Dinoblade | $19.99 | 2,420 90% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,451,274) | Team Spino LLC | |
| | NanoApostle | older | $19.99 | 1,184 95% | 36k | $710k (exactly $710,045) | 18Light Game Ltd. |
| | Perennial Order | older | $19.99 | 687 93% | 21k | $412k (exactly $411,994) | Gardenfiend Games |
| | Gurei | $15.99 | 281 83% | 8.4k | $135k (exactly $134,796) | Lobo Sagaz studio | |
| | ABYSSAL BLADE | $4.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,772) | Vifer Games | |
| | Raindancer | older | $0.99 | 286 87% | 8.6k | $8.5k (exactly $8,494) | Strange Creatures Studio LLC |
| | Scarlet City of Devils | $8.99 | 25 88% | 750 | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) | Shademare | |
| | Virus Rush + Hazard of the Ages | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | STRANGER | |
| | Spirited Line | $4.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $3.9k (exactly $3,892) | Eazy Wizard | |
| | Clearing Blade | · EA | $8.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.5k (exactly $3,506) | Devdepot |
| | BROKEN SOUL : Boss Rush | $12.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) | DoubleJLabs | |
| | Dragon Knight | $9.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | MachNone |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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