Do I ship it?

GamesFightingFighting + Survival

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Survival Fighting game?

Fighting + Survival

Only 11 developers shipped a Survival 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, Hellfire Rampage VR, 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.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 16 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fighting + Survival
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $538 → $30 → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fighting + Survival: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $539 (exactly $539)
Top 5% $899 (exactly $899)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 95
Announced 16
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 80% on the market, supply 165% 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
Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Survival
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 86% positive over 21 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 $150, 1 in 4 over $530, 1 in 20 over $890.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 16 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MORDHAU older $29.99 91,678 80% 2.8M $82M (exactly $82,482,697) Triternion
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone older $19.99 36,084 96% 1.1M $22M (exactly $21,639,575) Doborog Games
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
Spiritfall older $19.99 1,844 92% 55k $1.1M (exactly $1,105,847) Gentle Giant
Garbage older $14.99 1,003 66% 30k $451k (exactly $451,049) Homebased
Undead Citadel older $29.99 288 72% 8.6k $259k (exactly $259,114) Dark Curry S.L.
Shark Attack Deathmatch 2 older $4.99 1,415 74% 42k $212k (exactly $211,826) Lighthouse Games Studio
Chicken Assassin: Reloaded older $4.99 715 94% 21k $107k (exactly $107,036) OneShark
Afterlife VR older $14.99 174 82% 5.2k $78k (exactly $78,248) Split Light Studio
NEO AQUARIUM - The King of Crustaceans - older $8.99 252 80% 7.6k $68k (exactly $67,964) Calappa Games
Hellfire Rampage VR $9.99 3 66% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Nazar Korinnyi
The Final Shuffle $5.99 4 50% 120 $719 (exactly $719) KaashFusionStudio
FallingBattle · EA $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) syhdaniel, Kun Cheng, kattunforever49,… (syhdaniel, Kun Cheng, kattunforever49, cuteaheng)
Lord Of Island $2.99 6 100% 180 $538 (exactly $538) TungataGames
Fight Ascension $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Erivan.L
Home Invaders $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Umongus
Souls Arena 100 Trials $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) SeedWall
Snowball Fight 2025 $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) Fun Hollidays
SCARED OF ZOMBIES $6.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) KIMYS STUDIO
The Last Night:Zombie Attack · EA $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) JamieGames, Veitch21

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