Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Party Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Party Game?

Combat + Party Game

Of 125 developers who shipped a Combat Party Game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 288 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $37k, ×60 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 288 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 288 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Party Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 125
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $807 → $5.8k → $987 → $899 → $449 (still earning) → $130 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Party Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 125
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,246)
Top 5% $37k (exactly $37,409)
Developers, 2 yr 125
Released games 189
Announced 288
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 90% on the market, supply 395% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Party Game
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat, Party Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Physics
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,828 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.2k, 1 in 20 over $37k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 288 games are announced against 104 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Machine Party 2026 · $1.0M A Gentlemen's Dispute 2025 · $287k A Gummy's Life 2018 · $116k Beetleball 2026 · $85k Griefhelm 2020 · $80k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Machine Party $7.99 4,199 87% 126k $1.0M (exactly $1,006,500) Mike Klubnika, GDeavid
A Gentlemen's Dispute $7.99 1,199 94% 36k $287k (exactly $287,400) Blast Furnace Games
A Gummy's Life older $19.99 194 81% 5.8k $116k (exactly $116,342) EP Games®
Beetleball $7.99 354 93% 11k $85k (exactly $84,854) Bugfight Studio
Griefhelm older $9.99 267 75% 8.0k $80k (exactly $80,020) Johnny Dale Lonack
BattleCap $11.99 159 96% 4.8k $57k (exactly $57,192) MechAlmond Productions
Samurai GUNN older $4.99 354 93% 11k $53k (exactly $52,994) Beau Blyth, Doseone
NiuMa $5.99 263 91% 7.9k $47k (exactly $47,261) Game Star
Twisted Party $4.99 256 58% 7.7k $38k (exactly $38,323) Vampire Squid
Royalty Free-For-All $11.99 104 86% 3.1k $37k (exactly $37,409) AAAA Games, LLC
Bean There, Won That $7.99 117 76% 3.5k $28k (exactly $28,045) RemRem Studios
Super Shout Showdown · EA $7.99 111 83% 3.3k $27k (exactly $26,607) Rezero Studio
Dusty Derby · EA $9.99 66 100% 2.0k $20k (exactly $19,780) Geniesoft Inc.

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