Games › Combat › Combat + Villain Protagonist
Should I ship a Villain-Led Combat game?
Combat + Villain Protagonist
Only 10 developers shipped a Villain-Led Combat 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, OFF, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $72k against a market of $630. 16 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $14k (exactly $13,941) |
|---|---|
| Median | $72k (exactly $71,976) |
| Top 25% | $203k (exactly $203,207) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Villain Protagonist
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 87% positive over 4,558 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $14k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed 2022 · $2.7M 
OFF 2025 · $1.4M 
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ 2023 · $1.3M 
Dungeon Warfare 2015 · $578k 
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival 2025 · $248k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed | older | $39.99 | 2,271 79% | 68k | $2.7M (exactly $2,724,519) | Black Forest Games |
| | OFF | $14.99 | 3,093 95% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922) | Mortis Ghost, Fangamer | |
| | The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ | older | $49.99 | 839 41% | 25k | $1.3M (exactly $1,258,248) | Daedalic Entertainment |
| | Dungeon Warfare | older | $9.99 | 1,930 95% | 58k | $578k (exactly $578,421) | Valsar |
| | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games | |
 | Soulash | older | $14.99 | 513 69% | 15k | $231k (exactly $230,696) | Artur Smiarowski |
 | Highway Police Simulator | $27.99 | 242 30% | 7.3k | $203k (exactly $203,207) | Z-Software | |
 | Acquitted | older | $7.95 | 755 96% | 23k | $180k (exactly $180,068) | Nordic Empire Games |
 | Excidio The Kaiju Simulator | $12.99 | 244 92% | 7.3k | $95k (exactly $95,087) | TokuPop | |
 | Fall of an Empire | $29.99 | 80 67% | 2.4k | $72k (exactly $71,976) | JG Games | |
 | Stranger Things VR | $24.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $22k (exactly $22,491) | Tender Claws | |
 | Vindefiant | $14.99 | 31 80% | 930 | $14k (exactly $13,941) | Blakey Games | |
 | Steam Veins | · EA | $12.99 | 8 62% | 240 | $3.1k (exactly $3,118) | Kimu Studios |
 | SCP: Pale Weaver | $5.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | why so serious? | |
 | soul balance | $1.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | SpringBone |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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