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Should I ship a Martial-Arts Roguelike?
Roguelike + Martial Arts
Of 46 developers who shipped a Martial-Arts Roguelike 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.. 58 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×9.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2405 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 58 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $48,252) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,510,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Martial Arts
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Roguelite, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 70,011 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
The Scroll of Taiwu : Beyond The Dome 2026 · $51M 
Sifu 2023 · $26M 
嗜血印 Bloody Spell 2022 · $26M 
暖雪 Warm Snow 2022 · $19M 
Realm of Ink 2026 · $3.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Scroll of Taiwu : Beyond The Dome | $29.99 | 56,535 65% | 1.7M | $51M (exactly $50,864,540) | ConchShip Games | |
| | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
| | 嗜血印 Bloody Spell | older | $24.99 | 34,184 89% | 1.0M | $26M (exactly $25,627,745) | 艺龙游戏 |
| | 暖雪 Warm Snow | older | $17.99 | 35,270 92% | 1.1M | $19M (exactly $19,035,219) | BadMudStudio |
| | Realm of Ink | $24.99 | 5,007 90% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) | Leap Studio | |
 | Fights in Tight Spaces | older | $24.99 | 3,545 90% | 106k | $2.7M (exactly $2,657,686) | Ground Shatter |
 | 天外武林 (Traveler of Wuxia) | older | $24.99 | 3,151 85% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,362,305) | 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司 |
 | WARRIORS: Abyss | $24.99 | 2,015 85% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,510,646) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | The Lost Village | older | $11.99 | 2,743 70% | 82k | $987k (exactly $986,657) | FunYoo Games |
 | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio | |
 | Karate Survivor | $4.99 | 2,997 85% | 90k | $449k (exactly $448,651) | Alawar | |
 | Poetry of Blood: Eclipse | · EA | $14.99 | 406 91% | 12k | $183k (exactly $182,578) | ZeroGameStudio |
 | 小小侠客模拟器 | $2.99 | 1,103 86% | 33k | $99k (exactly $98,939) | 小小游戏 | |
 | Swords and Sandals 3 Redux | $9.99 | 233 87% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $69,830) | Whiskeybarrel Studios | |
 | Elder Ring | · EA | $9.99 | 230 40% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $68,931) | Funny as Hell |
 | Murim Survival | $7.99 | 264 75% | 7.9k | $63k (exactly $63,281) | Sunwood Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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