Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + Dark Fantasy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Dark Fantasy

Only 8 developers shipped a Dark-Fantasy Character Action 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, Shady Knight, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.9k, ×4.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×360 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.6 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 25 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Dark Fantasy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Character Action Game + Dark Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Median $6.9k (exactly $6,893)
Top 25% $58k (exactly $57,698)
Top 5% $539k (exactly $538,531)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 44
Announced 25
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Dark Fantasy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game
Price point
$11.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 42,216 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.0k, median $6.9k, 1 in 4 over $57k, 1 in 20 over $530k.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Sci-fiPoor odds12 devs · median $305k · 30 announced
  2. + Action RPGPoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  3. + ShooterPoor odds14 devs · median $84k · 47 announced
  4. + Action-AdventurePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  5. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds14 devs · median $58k · 43 announced
  6. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  7. + Hack and SlashPoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  8. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  9. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  10. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  11. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... 2021 · $39M Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition 2013 · $7.2M Steelrising 2022 · $6.9M Soulstice 2022 · $2.2M Vigil: The Longest Night 2020 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... older $59.99 21,493 88% 645k $39M (exactly $38,680,952) Square Enix, Toylogic Inc.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition older $29.99 7,998 80% 240k $7.2M (exactly $7,195,801) MercurySteam, Climax Studios
Steelrising older $49.99 4,568 73% 137k $6.9M (exactly $6,850,630) Spiders
Soulstice older $39.99 1,845 76% 55k $2.2M (exactly $2,213,446) Reply Game Studios
Vigil: The Longest Night older $21.99 3,333 85% 100k $2.2M (exactly $2,198,780) Glass Heart Games
Shady Knight $19.99 898 93% 27k $539k (exactly $538,531) Alexey 'cptnsigh'
SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption older $18.99 840 65% 25k $479k (exactly $478,548) DARK STAR
The Darkest Tales older $19.99 697 69% 21k $418k (exactly $417,991) Trinity Team
Lucah: Born of a Dream older $9.99 421 92% 13k $126k (exactly $126,174) melessthanthree
Anima: Gate of Memories - The Nameless Chronicles older $19.99 123 80% 3.7k $74k (exactly $73,763) Anima Project
Magenta Horizon - Neverending Harvest $10.99 175 89% 5.3k $58k (exactly $57,698) Maddison Baek
Emberbane $14.99 111 52% 3.3k $50k (exactly $49,917) Hamlet Games
VEX MAGE $9.99 23 95% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) Nervous Systems
Slime Changer $11.99 12 100% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,316) MoonJourney
Slay The Berserker · EA $9.99 10 50% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Advance Garde
Duil $11.99 5 80% 150 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) JL studio
Shadow Runner $7.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) ArcadeDeck

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