Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter Action GameCharacter Action Game + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Female Protagonist

Only 14 developers shipped a Female-Led 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, Homura Hime, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 43 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $58k, ×39 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $7.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×1159 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 43 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 38.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 43 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $271k → $36k → $31k → $8.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Action Game + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $7.0k (exactly $7,012)
Median $58k (exactly $58,171)
Top 25% $500k (exactly $500,233)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 107
Announced 43
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $15.00

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 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 3D Fighter, Action RPG
Price point
$15.00 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $15.00.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,799 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $7.1k, median $58k, 1 in 4 over $500k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $7.1k. 43 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  6. + Hack and SlashPoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  7. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  8. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  9. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  10. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced
  12. + SimulationPoor odds10 devs · median $15k · 19 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NieR:Automata™ older $39.99 115,103 88% 3.5M $138M (exactly $138,089,069) Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc.
NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... older $59.99 21,493 88% 645k $39M (exactly $38,680,952) Square Enix, Toylogic Inc.
Bayonetta older $19.99 27,380 92% 821k $16M (exactly $16,419,786) PlatinumGames
Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition older $24.99 16,972 87% 509k $13M (exactly $12,723,908) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
ICEY older $10.99 25,142 89% 754k $8.3M (exactly $8,289,317) FantaBlade Network
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
Onee Chanbara ORIGIN older $59.99 1,217 75% 37k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,235) Tamsoft
SENRAN KAGURA Burst Re:Newal older $29.99 2,433 92% 73k $2.2M (exactly $2,188,970) Tamsoft
NINJA GAIDEN Σ2 [NINJA GAIDEN: Master Collection] older $39.99 1,639 79% 49k $2.0M (exactly $1,966,308) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Homura Hime $24.99 2,316 90% 69k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305) Crimson Dusk
Aeruta $19.99 2,391 94% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) FromDawn Games
Mahou Arms $39.99 618 73% 19k $741k (exactly $741,415) Dischan Media
Valkyrie of Phantasm $29.99 556 86% 17k $500k (exactly $500,233) AREAZERO
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. $8.99 438 70% 13k $118k (exactly $118,129) STUDIO POCO
The Awakener: Battle Tendency $14.98 233 74% 7.0k $105k (exactly $104,710) TANER GAMES
SoulQuest $19.99 97 81% 2.9k $58k (exactly $58,171) SoulBlade Studio LLC, TomasJPereyra
TEXNOPLAZM · EA $15.99 65 98% 2.0k $31k (exactly $31,180) Mothership Loudspeakerz
Pixel Game Maker Series MagicalShot The AttackBump☆ $4.99 59 100% 1.8k $8.8k (exactly $8,832) Azuma Project
DAWN ONE $8.99 26 76% 780 $7.0k (exactly $7,012) shaderbunny

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