Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Quick-Time Events

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Quick-Time Events game?

Combat + Quick-Time Events

Of 62 developers who shipped a Combat Quick-Time Events 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.. 126 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 39 developers shipped in the last year and 126 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 126 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Quick-Time Events
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 62
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.7k → $1.1k → $148 → $598 → $120 → $719 → $90 (still earning) → $480 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Quick-Time Events: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 62
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $180 (exactly $180)
Top 25% $898 (exactly $898)
Top 5% $23k (exactly $23,207)
Developers, 2 yr 62
Released games 164
Announced 126
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 10% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Quick-Time Events
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, Quick-Time Events; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 64,462 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $180, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 126 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Stellar Blade™ 2025 · $110M Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2021 · $30M Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 2025 · $5.2M Commando Collection 2024 · $212k Return to abyss 重返深渊 2023 · $142k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles older $59.99 16,545 87% 496k $30M (exactly $29,776,036) CyberConnect2
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 $59.99 2,879 83% 86k $5.2M (exactly $5,181,336) CyberConnect2
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Return to abyss 重返深渊 older $4.99 949 79% 28k $142k (exactly $142,065) Wingjoy Games
Twelves:Shadow $12.99 154 35% 4.6k $60k (exactly $60,014) JuLu Studio
Gripper older $19.99 51 84% 1.5k $31k (exactly $30,585) Heart Core
Aim Assault $17.99 43 79% 1.3k $23k (exactly $23,207) DIVR Labs
Disco Samurai $9.99 45 88% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Pixel Fiber Games
8 older $12.88 29 96% 870 $11k (exactly $11,206) Thales Caus
Daughter of The Void · EA $9.99 15 100% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Shaybabe
Patriotika RPG: Shadow World $14.99 5 100% 150 $2.2k (exactly $2,248) DDreams Games
QuackSquad $3.99 16 100% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,915) Boxcutter L.A
UNPLUG - The Game · EA $10.99 5 100% 150 $1.6k (exactly $1,648) GoldLime Studios
Samurai beat demons $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) sDev Games

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