Should I ship a Mech RPG?
RPG + Mechs
Of 63 developers who shipped a Mech RPG 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.. 110 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1917 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 110 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $54k (exactly $53,978) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 207 |
| Announced | 110 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- RPG; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Stylized, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 18,703 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 110 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
BATTLETECH 2018 · $28M 
SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS 2019 · $12M 
Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered 2024 · $10M 
Super Robot Wars 30 2021 · $10M 
DAEMON X MACHINA 2020 · $9.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BATTLETECH | older | $39.99 | 23,024 84% | 691k | $28M (exactly $27,621,893) | Harebrained Schemes |
| | SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS | older | $59.99 | 6,939 82% | 208k | $12M (exactly $12,488,118) | TOM CREATE, 株式会社トムクリエイト |
| | Horizon Zero Dawn™ Remastered | $49.99 | 6,860 84% | 206k | $10M (exactly $10,287,942) | Guerrilla Games, Nixxes Software | |
| | Super Robot Wars 30 | older | $59.99 | 5,608 85% | 168k | $10M (exactly $10,092,718) | Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc. |
| | DAEMON X MACHINA | older | $49.99 | 6,172 85% | 185k | $9.3M (exactly $9,256,148) | Marvelous Inc. |
 | SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE | older | $59.99 | 4,892 62% | 147k | $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) | ARTDINK |
 | Into the Breach | older | $14.99 | 19,000 94% | 570k | $8.5M (exactly $8,544,300) | Subset Games |
 | The Surge 2 | older | $29.99 | 7,477 75% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,727,057) | Deck13 |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | older | $39.99 | 5,131 94% | 154k | $6.2M (exactly $6,155,661) | Nihon Falcom |
 | Chained Echoes | older | $24.99 | 7,713 88% | 231k | $5.8M (exactly $5,782,436) | Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda) |
 | M.A.S.S. Builder | $24.99 | 3,729 85% | 112k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) | Vermillion Digital | |
 | Psycho Patrol R | · EA | $39.99 | 2,090 88% | 63k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II | $59.99 | 669 83% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED BATTLE DESTINY REMASTERED | $39.99 | 757 77% | 23k | $908k (exactly $908,173) | Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc. | |
 | Metal Slug Tactics | $24.99 | 1,152 76% | 35k | $864k (exactly $863,654) | Leikir Studio | |
 | FRONT MISSION 3: Remake | $34.99 | 453 74% | 14k | $476k (exactly $475,514) | MegaPixel Studio S.A. | |
 | Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog | $14.99 | 843 90% | 25k | $379k (exactly $379,097) | Space Colony Studios | |
 | NITRO GEN OMEGA | $29.99 | 398 83% | 12k | $358k (exactly $358,081) | DESTINYbit | |
 | Vital Shell | $5.99 | 1,752 96% | 53k | $315k (exactly $314,834) | MarvinWizard |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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