Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter Action GameCharacter Action Game + Simulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Simulation Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Simulation

Only 10 developers shipped a Simulation 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, Aeruta, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×10 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×957 the market median. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 19 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 220% on the market, 19 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Simulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $9.0k → $258k
Outcomes for Character Action Game + Simulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $5.5k (exactly $5,456)
Median $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 25% $251k (exactly $250,737)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 78
Announced 19
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $12.99

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 220% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Simulation
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, Simulation
Price point
$12.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 88% positive over 3,227 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $5.5k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $250k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $5.5k. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Moonlighter older $19.99 17,286 82% 519k $10M (exactly $10,366,414) Digital Sun
Aeruta $19.99 2,391 94% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) FromDawn Games
Cuisineer older $24.99 1,820 76% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,454) BattleBrew Productions
Sex with Stalin older $5.99 2,217 83% 67k $398k (exactly $398,395) Mova Games
TORMENTOR $29.99 287 49% 8.6k $258k (exactly $258,214) Madmind Studio
MySims™ $39.99 209 86% 6.3k $251k (exactly $250,737) Maxis
High School Odyssey older $8.99 591 92% 18k $159k (exactly $159,393) 傲雪小组
MySims™ Kingdom $39.99 120 93% 3.6k $144k (exactly $143,964) Maxis
Desktop Kanojo older $2.99 1,502 85% 45k $135k (exactly $134,729) Neko Game
Isles of Yore · EA older $19.99 127 69% 3.8k $76k (exactly $76,162) MaverickMatryoshka
Ski Jumping World Cup $3.99 133 75% 4.0k $16k (exactly $15,920) Storm Trident S.A.
Long Live Caesar $9.99 51 78% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) Yury Khovansky, Vladislavs Viktorovs
Fizz Quiz $14.99 20 50% 600 $9.0k (exactly $8,994) Moon
Ominous Stew $12.99 14 100% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) bloomgeist
Half-Cat $7.99 2 100% 60 $479 (exactly $479) Blue Butterfly
Medieval Heroes $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Trottomatic

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