Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Action-Adventure

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure

Of 5,114 developers who shipped an Action-Adventure 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.. 10,516 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×702 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 10,516 games are announced against 2,831 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 10,516 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 5,114
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $1.4k → $1.2k → $1.2k → $1.1k → $899 → $659 (still earning) → $420 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 5,114
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $7.9k (exactly $7,934)
Top 5% $441k (exactly $440,779)
Developers, 2 yr 5,114
Released games 15,775
Announced 10,516
Effort 6 / 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 15% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action-Adventure
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
Action-Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 776,856 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $840, 1 in 4 over $7.9k, 1 in 20 over $440k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 3,097 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 10,516 games are announced against 2,831 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Action-Adventure

70 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Action-Adventure + LGBTQ+ Poor odds $24k 81 devs
  2. Action-Adventure + Villain Protagonist Poor odds $17k 12 devs
  3. Action-Adventure + Music Poor odds $13k 23 devs
  4. Action-Adventure + Romance Poor odds $10k 77 devs
  5. Action-Adventure + Cold War Poor odds $10k 15 devs
  6. Action-Adventure + Trains Poor odds $8.3k 16 devs
  7. Action-Adventure + Naval Poor odds $6.6k 32 devs
  8. Action-Adventure + Transhumanism Poor odds $5.1k 15 devs
  9. Action-Adventure + Lovecraftian Poor odds $4.6k 82 devs
  10. Action-Adventure + World War II Poor odds $4.3k 24 devs
  11. Action-Adventure + Vampires Poor odds $3.9k 49 devs
  12. Action-Adventure + Female Protagonist Poor odds $3.9k 642 devs
  13. Action-Adventure + Horses Poor odds $3.7k 15 devs
  14. Action-Adventure + Heist Poor odds $3.4k 28 devs
  15. Action-Adventure + Mechs Poor odds $2.7k 44 devs
  16. Action-Adventure + Dinosaurs Poor odds $2.6k 41 devs
  17. Action-Adventure + Capitalism Poor odds $2.6k 36 devs
  18. Action-Adventure + Pirates Poor odds $2.2k 52 devs
  19. Action-Adventure + Werewolves Poor odds $2.1k 20 devs
  20. Action-Adventure + Gothic Poor odds $2.1k 74 devs
  21. Action-Adventure + Historical Poor odds $1.9k 126 devs
  22. Action-Adventure + Alternate History Poor odds $1.9k 87 devs
  23. Action-Adventure + Mythology Poor odds $1.9k 155 devs
  24. Action-Adventure + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $1.8k 331 devs
  25. Action-Adventure + Dystopian Poor odds $1.8k 156 devs
  26. Action-Adventure + Hacking Poor odds $1.8k 29 devs
  27. Action-Adventure + Steampunk Poor odds $1.7k 27 devs
  28. Action-Adventure + Western Poor odds $1.7k 43 devs
  29. Action-Adventure + Martial Arts Poor odds $1.6k 63 devs
  30. Action-Adventure + Time Travel Poor odds $1.6k 45 devs
  31. Action-Adventure + Assassins Poor odds $1.4k 44 devs
  32. Action-Adventure + Psychological Horror Poor odds $1.4k 865 devs
  33. Action-Adventure + Detective Poor odds $1.3k 134 devs
  34. Action-Adventure + Horror Poor odds $1.3k 1,419 devs
  35. Action-Adventure + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $1.2k 503 devs
  36. Action-Adventure + Snow Poor odds $1.2k 32 devs
  37. Action-Adventure + Cyberpunk Poor odds $1.2k 145 devs
  38. Action-Adventure + Modern Poor odds $1.2k 73 devs
  39. Action-Adventure + Robots Poor odds $1.1k 145 devs
  40. Action-Adventure + Cats Poor odds $1.1k 89 devs
  41. Action-Adventure + Supernatural Poor odds $1.1k 310 devs
  42. Action-Adventure + Crime Poor odds $1.0k 97 devs
  43. Action-Adventure + Underground Poor odds $1.0k 95 devs
  44. Action-Adventure + Thriller Poor odds $959 430 devs
  45. Action-Adventure + Superhero Poor odds $959 33 devs
  46. Action-Adventure + Faith Poor odds $958 37 devs
  47. Action-Adventure + Zombies Poor odds $899 369 devs
  48. Action-Adventure + Space Poor odds $899 245 devs
  49. Action-Adventure + War Poor odds $899 98 devs
  50. Action-Adventure + Fantasy Poor odds $898 1,193 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B Hogwarts Legacy 2023 · $495M Far Cry® 5 2018 · $311M Assassin's Creed® Odyssey 2018 · $310M Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 2024 · $303M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Black Myth: Wukong older $59.99 881,186 96% 26M $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) Game Science
Hogwarts Legacy older $59.99 274,801 89% 8.2M $495M (exactly $494,559,360) Avalanche Software
Far Cry® 5 older $59.99 172,897 81% 5.2M $311M (exactly $311,162,731) Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Sh… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Kiev)
Assassin's Creed® Odyssey older $59.99 172,149 89% 5.2M $310M (exactly $309,816,555) Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 older $59.99 168,628 84% 5.1M $303M (exactly $303,479,812) Saber Interactive
Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition older $59.99 164,914 79% 4.9M $297M (exactly $296,795,726) Techland
It Takes Two older $39.99 218,492 95% 6.6M $262M (exactly $262,124,852) Hazelight Studios
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II $59.99 144,558 93% 4.3M $260M (exactly $260,161,033) Warhorse Studios
Sons Of The Forest older $29.99 284,572 88% 8.5M $256M (exactly $256,029,428) Endnight Games Ltd
Crimson Desert Enhanced $69.99 115,056 83% 3.5M $242M (exactly $241,583,083) Pearl Abyss
Resident Evil Requiem $69.99 106,931 95% 3.2M $225M (exactly $224,523,021) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Stellar Blade™ $59.99 61,289 93% 1.8M $110M (exactly $110,301,813) SHIFT UP Corporation
Dying Light: The Beast $59.99 59,318 87% 1.8M $107M (exactly $106,754,605) Techland
SILENT HILL 2 $69.99 43,367 94% 1.3M $91M (exactly $91,057,690) Bloober Team SA
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered $49.99 59,690 76% 1.8M $90M (exactly $89,517,093) Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuos
DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO $49.99 50,395 86% 1.5M $76M (exactly $75,577,382) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.

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