Do I ship it?

Games › Fighting › Fighting + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Fighting game?

Fighting + Magic

Only 18 developers shipped a Magic Fighting 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, Blades of Fire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×419 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 23 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 23 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fighting + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $16k → $3.0k → $2.2k → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fighting + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,696)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,500)
Top 5% $627k (exactly $627,443)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 77
Announced 23
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 20% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Fighting
effort 7 / 10 · low · frame data, hitboxes and rollback netcode
Magic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Fighting; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, 2D Fighter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 838 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $620k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Fighting with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SandboxStrong odds11 devs · median $76k · 8 announced
  2. + Score AttackLong shot13 devs · median $599 · 11 announced
  3. + Open WorldPoor odds12 devs · median $117k · 26 announced
  4. + Dark FantasyPoor odds11 devs · median $56k · 23 announced
  5. + Souls-likePoor odds8 devs · median $24k · 20 announced
  6. + SwordplayPoor odds13 devs · median $13k · 33 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 16 announced
  8. + CyberpunkPoor odds5 devs · median $9.6k · 18 announced
  9. + Local Co-OpPoor odds41 devs · median $9.4k · 45 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds45 devs · median $9.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Hack and SlashPoor odds29 devs · median $8.7k · 60 announced
  12. + AdventurePoor odds44 devs · median $7.2k · 104 announced

All 67 pairs on the Fighting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Blade and Sorcery 2024 · $53M Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning 2020 · $7.6M RUMBLE 2022 · EA · $2.4M Until You Fall 2020 · $2.2M Them's Fightin' Herds 2020 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Blade and Sorcery older $29.99 59,074 96% 1.8M $53M (exactly $53,148,878) WarpFrog
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning older $39.99 6,305 78% 189k $7.6M (exactly $7,564,108) KAIKO, Big Huge Games, 38 Studios
RUMBLE · EA older $24.99 3,158 87% 95k $2.4M (exactly $2,367,553) Buckethead Entertainment
Until You Fall older $24.99 2,883 94% 86k $2.2M (exactly $2,161,385) Schell Games
Them's Fightin' Herds older $19.99 3,297 83% 99k $2.0M (exactly $1,977,211) Mane6, Inc.
BLACK CLOVER: QUARTET KNIGHTS older $49.99 832 75% 25k $1.2M (exactly $1,247,750) ILINX, Inc.
Battle Talent older $19.99 1,194 77% 36k $716k (exactly $716,042) Cydream
Blades of Fire $39.99 523 74% 16k $627k (exactly $627,443) MercurySteam
Swordsman VR older $19.99 651 68% 20k $390k (exactly $390,405) Sinn Studio Inc.
TOUHOU SKY ARENA MATSURI CLIMAX older $19.99 200 86% 6.0k $120k (exactly $119,940) AREAZERO
Elements Divided $14.99 137 86% 4.1k $62k (exactly $61,609) Loco Motion Devs
The Amazing Crackpots Club! $14.99 41 95% 1.2k $18k (exactly $18,438) Astrobard Games, IguanaBee
King's Blade $8.99 49 81% 1.5k $13k (exactly $13,215) Alexey Suslin
Astropods: Starside Glaze $12.50 28 100% 840 $11k (exactly $10,500) CheesiMoon, Breadbinbran
Starkheim Tournament · EA $7.99 15 93% 450 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Project MOX
Unbound Eternity $9.99 11 90% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Yunicorn Studio
Pure Instinct Katana $24.99 4 75% 120 $3.0k (exactly $2,999) Pure Instinct Studio
Nightmarena $5.99 15 93% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) Colo Coko
Slime Battles $4.99 15 100% 450 $2.2k (exactly $2,246) Nish Studios

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