Do I ship it?

Games › Fighting › Fighting + Party Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Party Game Fighting game?

Fighting + Party Game

Of 43 developers who shipped a Party Game Fighting 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.. 60 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 $900, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180. 60 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper, while revenue is down 85% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 60 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fighting + Party Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 43
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $4.8k → $2.8k → $539 → $539 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fighting + Party Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 43
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,036)
Top 5% $57k (exactly $57,288)
Developers, 2 yr 43
Released games 89
Announced 60
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 85% on the market, supply 105% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.

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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
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
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Fighting, Party Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Physics
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, Family Friendly, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 2,532 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $57k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Fighting with a different second tag, 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

Party Animals 2023 · $34M Gang Beasts 2017 · $33M ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M Nidhogg 2014 · $1.7M Rubber Bandits 2021 · $1.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Party Animals older $19.99 56,043 81% 1.7M $34M (exactly $33,608,987) Recreate Games
Gang Beasts older $19.99 54,880 85% 1.6M $33M (exactly $32,911,536) Boneloaf, Rocket Science
ROUNDS older $5.99 35,738 95% 1.1M $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) Landfall
Nidhogg older $9.99 5,717 90% 172k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) Messhof
Rubber Bandits older $9.99 5,628 84% 169k $1.7M (exactly $1,686,712) Flashbulb
TowerFall Ascension older $14.99 2,942 95% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,017) Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.)
Boomerang Fu older $14.99 1,805 97% 54k $812k (exactly $811,708) Cranky Watermelon
Nidhogg 2 older $14.99 1,027 82% 31k $462k (exactly $461,842) Messhof
A Gentlemen's Dispute $7.99 1,199 94% 36k $287k (exactly $287,400) Blast Furnace Games
STARWHAL older $11.99 496 92% 15k $178k (exactly $178,411) Breakfall
Smack Talk $5.99 867 96% 26k $156k (exactly $155,800) Monchii Studio
Knock'Em Out $7.99 239 85% 7.2k $57k (exactly $57,288) BBear Studio
Dino Party $11.99 56 98% 1.7k $20k (exactly $20,143) Studio Nachtwerk
Amer Fighting - عامر المشاجرة $9.99 29 93% 870 $8.7k (exactly $8,691) Mad Hook
Which Way Up: Galaxy Games $14.99 16 100% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) Turtle Flip Studio
Kitchen Wars $4.99 45 80% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) Silent Owl
Party Madness $3.99 51 76% 1.5k $6.1k (exactly $6,105) Devotion Interactive
Maki: Paw of Fury $11.99 16 75% 480 $5.8k (exactly $5,755) Bacord
Ominous Stew $12.99 14 100% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) bloomgeist

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