Games › Stealth › Stealth + Swordplay
Should I ship a Swordplay Stealth game?
Stealth + Swordplay
Only 13 developers shipped a Swordplay Stealth game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $73M, ×116864 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,440) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,372) |
| Top 5% | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.00 |
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 100% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Stealth, Swordplay; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $8.00 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $8.00.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 36,764 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Stealth with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + Gun CustomizationPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
Kenshi 2018 · $89M 
Assassin’s Creed Shadows 2025 · $73M 
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M 
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic 2006 · $2.8M 
Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry 2014 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kenshi | older | $29.99 | 98,451 95% | 3.0M | $89M (exactly $88,576,365) | Lo-Fi Games |
| | Assassin’s Creed Shadows | $69.99 | 34,953 75% | 1.0M | $73M (exactly $73,390,814) | Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Bucharest & Craiova, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Ukraine) | |
| | METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE | older | $29.99 | 69,104 96% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $62,172,869) | PlatinumGames |
| | Dark Messiah of Might & Magic | older | $9.99 | 9,331 89% | 280k | $2.8M (exactly $2,796,501) | Arkane Studios |
| | Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry | older | $14.99 | 2,891 77% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,300,083) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Arken Age | $39.99 | 669 90% | 20k | $803k (exactly $802,599) | VitruviusVR | |
 | The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot | $9.99 | 999 98% | 30k | $299k (exactly $299,400) | Stéphane Le Roy | |
 | Winter Ember | older | $29.99 | 82 58% | 2.5k | $74k (exactly $73,775) | Sky Machine Studios |
 | Lia: Hacking Destiny | $14.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $41k (exactly $41,372) | Orube Game Studio | |
 | Dungeoneers | older | $19.99 | 58 82% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | Rogue Sword: Strategy & Adventure G… (Rogue Sword: Strategy & Adventure Games) |
 | the Shadow of Swallow | $3.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) | Raine Studio | |
 | 虚衝 - Kyosho | $9.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | むつむつプロジェクト（Mutsu'pro） | |
 | GAYA - The Mystery | $8.00 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,440) | Dunamis | |
 | Samurai's Odyssey | · EA | $7.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | CODEUM GAMES, 11Gen |
 | Jumpscare Slayer | $3.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | Rusimitu Games | |
 | Guards vs Goats | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | David Amado |
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.