Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + FPS

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Action Game FPS?

Character Action Game + FPS

Only 7 developers shipped a Character Action Game FPS 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.. 28 more are announced, ×7.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $29k against a market of $1.5k. 28 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 19.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 28 announced, ×7.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + FPS
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 7
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $226k → $3.2M → $16k
Outcomes for Character Action Game + FPS: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 7
Bottom 30% $16k (exactly $16,192)
Median $29k (exactly $29,227)
Top 25% $305k (exactly $305,394)
Top 5% $539k (exactly $538,531)
Developers, 2 yr 7
Released games 45
Announced 28
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $12.49

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 flat on the market, supply 35% 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
FPS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low 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, FPS
Price point
$12.49 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 $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 251,546 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $17k, median $29k, 1 in 4 over $300k, 1 in 20 over $530k.

3 in 10 developers made under $17k. 28 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different second tag, 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

ULTRAKILL 2020 · EA · $192M Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced 2023 · $16M VLADiK BRUTAL 2024 · $3.4M I Am Your Beast 2024 · $3.2M Shady Knight 2024 · $539k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ULTRAKILL · EA older $29.99 213,450 97% 6.4M $192M (exactly $192,040,965) Arsi "Hakita" Patala
Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced older $29.99 18,217 81% 547k $16M (exactly $16,389,835) Gearbox Software, Blind Squirrel Games
VLADiK BRUTAL older $11.99 9,551 89% 287k $3.4M (exactly $3,435,495) BRUTAL SOFTWARE
I Am Your Beast older $19.99 5,275 97% 158k $3.2M (exactly $3,163,417) Strange Scaffold
Shady Knight $19.99 898 93% 27k $539k (exactly $538,531) Alexey 'cptnsigh'
City of Brass older $19.99 758 77% 23k $455k (exactly $454,573) Uppercut Games Pty Ltd
Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation $9.99 1,019 97% 31k $305k (exactly $305,394) Ciaran Games LLC
REAVER · EA older $13.99 539 87% 16k $226k (exactly $226,218) crunkz, Black Boat Games
GangV | VR & PC Battle Royale · EA older $14.99 337 60% 10k $152k (exactly $151,549) raptor lab
Desktop Kanojo older $2.99 1,502 85% 45k $135k (exactly $134,729) Neko Game
TEXNOPLAZM · EA $15.99 65 98% 2.0k $31k (exactly $31,180) Mothership Loudspeakerz
GLUM · EA $12.49 78 64% 2.3k $29k (exactly $29,227) CinderCat Games
Rebel Engine $19.99 27 81% 810 $16k (exactly $16,192) Seven Leaf Clover
VEX MAGE $9.99 23 95% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) Nervous Systems
Extinction Rifts $9.99 2 100% 60 $599 (exactly $599) QUByte Interactive

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