Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Roguelike?
Roguelike + Robots
Of 118 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 193 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×566 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 193 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,282) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,187) |
| Top 5% | $355k (exactly $355,382) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 118 |
| Released games | 283 |
| Announced | 193 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 50% on the market, supply as many developers as 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 9,679 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 193 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Clone Drone in the Danger Zone | older | $19.99 | 36,084 96% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,639,575) | Doborog Games |
| | SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising | older | $19.99 | 10,111 94% | 303k | $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) | Flow Fire Games |
| | VOID/BREAKER | · EA | $29.99 | 2,506 91% | 75k | $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) | Stubby Games |
| | Sir, You Are Being Hunted | older | $19.99 | 2,875 79% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,137) | Big Robot Ltd |
| | 30XX | older | $19.99 | 2,514 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) | Batterystaple Games |
| | Cogmind | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,560 95% | 47k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,532) | Grid Sage Games |
| | ROBOBEAT | older | $19.99 | 1,708 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) | Simon Fredholm |
| | KIBORG | $24.99 | 1,221 84% | 37k | $915k (exactly $915,384) | Sobaka Studio | |
| | Oblivion Override | older | $17.99 | 1,692 90% | 51k | $913k (exactly $913,172) | Humble Mill |
| | METALLIC CHILD | older | $24.99 | 1,131 84% | 34k | $848k (exactly $847,911) | Action Square(STUDIO HG) |
| | Meta Ghost: Breaking Show | $17.99 | 1,497 72% | 45k | $808k (exactly $807,931) | Scarecrow Studio | |
| | Battle Shapers | $24.99 | 984 80% | 30k | $738k (exactly $737,705) | Metric Empire | |
| | Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense | $19.99 | 706 85% | 21k | $423k (exactly $423,388) | Element Studios | |
| | Roboquest VR | $29.99 | 395 87% | 12k | $355k (exactly $355,382) | Flat2VR Studios, RyseUp Studios | |
| | RAM: Random Access Mayhem | $14.99 | 611 97% | 18k | $275k (exactly $274,767) | Xylem Studios | |
| | Genome Guardian 2 | · EA | $15.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $197k (exactly $196,677) | Alpherior |
| | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai | |
| | Desecrators | $14.99 | 327 96% | 9.8k | $147k (exactly $147,052) | Woodhound |
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.