Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Roguelite?

Roguelite + Mechs

Of 57 developers who shipped a Mech Roguelite 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.. 90 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $16k, ×26 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1953 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 90 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 25.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 90 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelite + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 57
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $16k → $37k → $12k → $16k → $599 → $49k → $16k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelite + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 57
Bottom 30% $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Median $16k (exactly $16,018)
Top 25% $135k (exactly $134,910)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332)
Developers, 2 yr 57
Released games 130
Announced 90
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 up 50% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Roguelite; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Action Roguelike, Strategy
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 19,967 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $16k, 1 in 4 over $130k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 5 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Roguelite with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-TimeFair11 devs · median $11k · 14 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  3. + VampiresFair60 devs · median $4.8k · 62 announced
  4. + TypingFair29 devs · median $2.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Grand StrategyFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  6. + IdlerFair166 devs · median $1.5k · 235 announced
  7. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.3k · 22 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair23 devs · median $1.1k · 23 announced
  9. + Score AttackFair344 devs · median $719 · 450 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair94 devs · median $600 · 121 announced
  11. + LogicFair144 devs · median $599 · 143 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds21 devs · median $74k · 24 announced

All 229 pairs on the Roguelite page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Into the Breach 2018 · $8.5M Brigador: Up-Armored Edition 2016 · $3.4M Pax Autocratica 2026 · EA · $2.9M StarVaders 2025 · $2.8M UNDERDOGS 2024 · $2.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Into the Breach older $14.99 19,000 94% 570k $8.5M (exactly $8,544,300) Subset Games
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition older $24.99 4,580 93% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
StarVaders $24.99 3,760 97% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) Pengonauts
UNDERDOGS older $29.99 2,788 97% 84k $2.5M (exactly $2,508,364) One Hamsa
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Star Renegades older $24.99 2,673 82% 80k $2.0M (exactly $2,003,948) Massive Damage, Inc.
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Metal Unit older $14.99 2,056 82% 62k $925k (exactly $924,583) JellySnow Studio
Metal Slug Tactics $24.99 1,152 76% 35k $864k (exactly $863,654) Leikir Studio
Metal Bringer $19.99 1,109 87% 33k $665k (exactly $665,067) ALPHAWING Inc.
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
NITRO GEN OMEGA $29.99 398 83% 12k $358k (exactly $358,081) DESTINYbit

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