Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Martial Arts
Should I ship a Martial-Arts Sandbox?
Sandbox + Martial Arts
Of 21 developers who shipped a Martial-Arts Sandbox 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.. 31 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $48k, ×77 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $4.2M, ×6831 the market median. Revenue is up 335% on the market; 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) |
|---|---|
| Median | $48k (exactly $48,252) |
| Top 25% | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) |
| Top 5% | $4.3M (exactly $4,289,654) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 335% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
- Sandbox; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Open World, RPG, Strategy
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 83,476 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.2k. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
| 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 | |
| | Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 70,499 94% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $42,278,250) | United Front Games, Feral Interactive (… (United Front Games, Feral Interactive (Mac)) |
| | Amazing Cultivation Simulator | older | $24.99 | 19,111 85% | 573k | $14M (exactly $14,327,517) | GSQ Games |
| | Hero's Adventure: Road to Passion | older | $17.99 | 22,287 84% | 669k | $12M (exactly $12,028,294) | 半瓶醋工作室(Half Amateur Studio) |
| | Sands of Salzaar | older | $14.99 | 21,428 81% | 643k | $9.6M (exactly $9,636,172) | 汉家松鼠Han-Squirrel Studio |
| | 下一站江湖Ⅱ | older | $24.99 | 8,507 72% | 255k | $6.4M (exactly $6,377,698) | 白玉京工作室 |
| | 河洛群俠傳 (Ho Tu Lo Shu : The Books of Dragon) | older | $17.99 | 9,616 81% | 288k | $5.2M (exactly $5,189,755) | 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司 |
| | 龙胤立志传 | $19.99 | 7,153 77% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,289,654) | TPP Studio | |
| | The Matchless Kungfu | $19.99 | 6,755 79% | 203k | $4.1M (exactly $4,050,973) | HuanMos Game | |
| | Overgrowth | older | $19.99 | 6,202 86% | 186k | $3.7M (exactly $3,719,339) | Wolfire Games |
| | Eastern Era | $24.99 | 3,028 65% | 91k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) | FunYoo Games | |
| | Beast Saga | $20.99 | 2,714 80% | 81k | $1.7M (exactly $1,709,006) | 嘉兴黑曜石(Jiaxing Obsidian) | |
| | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
| | Killer Bean | · EA | $14.99 | 2,272 73% | 68k | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,718) | Killer Bean Studios LLC |
| | Gladio Mori | $15.99 | 1,147 82% | 34k | $550k (exactly $550,216) | Plebeian Studio | |
| | Stack to Ascension | $12.99 | 331 54% | 9.9k | $129k (exactly $128,991) | Stack to Ascension | |
| | Last Drop | · EA | $13.99 | 278 87% | 8.3k | $117k (exactly $116,677) | Lohkare Games Oy |
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.