Games › Fighting › Fighting + Strategy
Should I ship a Strategy Fighting game?
Fighting + Strategy
Of 28 developers who shipped a Strategy 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.. 54 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300. 54 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper, while revenue is up 45% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) |
| Top 5% | $505k (exactly $504,754) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 140 |
| Announced | 54 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 up 45% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Fighting, Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, 2D Fighter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 6,734 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Fighting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SandboxStrong odds
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + SwordplayPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + CyberpunkPoor odds
- + Local Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
Comparable games
FOR HONOR™ 2017 · $98M 
Batman™: Arkham Knight 2015 · $67M 
Ghostrunner 2020 · $42M 
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER 2023 · $26M 
DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition 2014 · $18M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FOR HONOR™ | older | $29.99 | 108,492 69% | 3.3M | $98M (exactly $97,610,252) | Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Toronto, Blue Byte) |
| | Batman™: Arkham Knight | older | $19.99 | 111,190 92% | 3.3M | $67M (exactly $66,680,643) | Rocksteady Studios |
| | Ghostrunner | older | $29.99 | 46,818 91% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,122,155) | One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Iro… (One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks™, All in! Games) |
| | NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER | older | $19.99 | 42,572 84% | 1.3M | $26M (exactly $25,530,428) | Soleil Ltd. |
| | DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 11,886 83% | 357k | $18M (exactly $17,825,434) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Stick Fight: The Game | older | $4.99 | 99,952 93% | 3.0M | $15M (exactly $14,962,814) | Landfall West |
 | Bad North: Jotunn Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,344 93% | 370k | $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) | Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg |
 | DNF Duel | older | $49.99 | 3,693 64% | 111k | $5.5M (exactly $5,538,392) | NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING… (NEOPLE Inc., Arc System Works, EIGHTING Co., Ltd.) |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Animal Revolt Battle Simulator | older | $14.99 | 6,571 95% | 197k | $3.0M (exactly $2,954,979) | VDimension |
 | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
 | A Gentlemen's Dispute | $7.99 | 1,199 94% | 36k | $287k (exactly $287,400) | Blast Furnace Games | |
 | IGNOBLE | $6.99 | 331 82% | 9.9k | $69k (exactly $69,411) | Retromagine | |
 | RHYTHMKILL | $9.99 | 45 82% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | GETTAKE | |
 | 1953: NATO vs Warsaw Pact | $5.99 | 70 41% | 2.1k | $13k (exactly $12,579) | Wastelands Interactive | |
 | Goo Goo Grapplers | $7.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | Both Good | |
 | Sim: Heavyweight Boxing Champion | $9.99 | 15 93% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Jfsimgames | |
 | Turn Based Boxing: Tactics - Legends Edition | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | The Slanted Room | |
 | Unbound Eternity | $9.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Yunicorn Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.