Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Action

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action game?

Action

Of 12,828 developers who shipped an Action game 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.. 24,688 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 $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×660 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 24,688 games are announced against 7,605 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 24,688 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12,828
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $1.5k → $1.2k → $1.1k → $1.1k → $1.0k → $599 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12,828
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $6.3k (exactly $6,296)
Top 5% $415k (exactly $414,742)
Developers, 2 yr 12,828
Released games 53,456
Announced 24,688
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 flat on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action
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 85% positive over 2,607,801 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 $750, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 7,496 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24,688 games are announced against 7,605 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Action

289 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Combat Racing + Action Poor odds $719 199 devs
  2. Action + Archery Poor odds $719 77 devs
  3. Action + Boxing Poor odds $719 65 devs
  4. Tactical + Action Poor odds $718 751 devs
  5. Action + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $718 276 devs
  6. Action + Turn-Based Tactics Poor odds $718 173 devs
  7. Action + Rhythm Poor odds $716 272 devs
  8. Action + Hidden Object Poor odds $683 470 devs
  9. Shooter + Action Poor odds $657 3,264 devs
  10. Action + Physics Poor odds $657 1,691 devs
  11. Action + Music-Based Procedural Generation Poor odds $657 52 devs
  12. Action + Platformer Poor odds $629 2,229 devs
  13. Action + God Game Poor odds $628 39 devs
  14. Action + Sci-fi Poor odds $600 2,252 devs
  15. Action + Strategy RPG Poor odds $600 175 devs
  16. Action + Combat Poor odds $599 3,905 devs
  17. PvE + Action Poor odds $599 2,587 devs
  18. Action + Bullet Hell Poor odds $599 1,914 devs
  19. Action + Futuristic Poor odds $599 1,093 devs
  20. Action + Puzzle Platformer Poor odds $599 647 devs
  21. Racing + Action Poor odds $599 554 devs
  22. Action + Beat 'em up Poor odds $599 545 devs
  23. Action + Tower Defense Poor odds $599 513 devs
  24. Parkour + Action Poor odds $599 485 devs
  25. Action + Collectathon Poor odds $599 433 devs
  26. Real Time Tactics + Action Poor odds $599 372 devs
  27. Action + Bullet Time Poor odds $599 282 devs
  28. Action + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $599 189 devs
  29. Action + Ninja Poor odds $599 125 devs
  30. Action + Science Poor odds $599 119 devs
  31. Action + Dynamic Narration Poor odds $599 65 devs
  32. Action + Intentionally Awkward Controls Poor odds $599 22 devs
  33. Sniper + Action Poor odds $598 69 devs
  34. Action + Precision Platformer Poor odds $597 881 devs
  35. Action + Assassins Poor odds $564 91 devs
  36. Action + Strategy Poor odds $539 1,850 devs
  37. Action + Incremental Poor odds $538 291 devs
  38. Action + 2D Platformer Poor odds $505 1,912 devs
  39. Action + Sokoban Poor odds $505 28 devs
  40. Action + Party Game Poor odds $495 441 devs
  41. Action + Nature Poor odds $479 545 devs
  42. Action + Tanks Poor odds $479 107 devs
  43. Space Sim + Action Poor odds $478 153 devs
  44. Action + Mystery Dungeon Poor odds $450 176 devs
  45. 3D Platformer + Action Poor odds $449 1,254 devs
  46. Action + Grid-Based Movement Poor odds $449 109 devs
  47. Action + Typing Poor odds $449 74 devs
  48. Football (Soccer) + Action Poor odds $449 52 devs
  49. Action + Arcade Poor odds $446 3,704 devs
  50. Action + Shoot 'Em Up Poor odds $419 1,190 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B Black Myth: Wukong 2024 · $1.6B Red Dead Redemption 2 2019 · $1.5B ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B Rust 2018 · $1.4B
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyberpunk 2077 older $59.99 883,400 87% 27M $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) CD PROJEKT RED
Black Myth: Wukong older $59.99 881,186 96% 26M $1.6B (exactly $1,585,870,444) Game Science
Red Dead Redemption 2 older $59.99 846,270 92% 25M $1.5B (exactly $1,523,032,119) Rockstar Games
ELDEN RING older $59.99 831,470 93% 25M $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) FromSoftware, Inc.
Rust older $39.99 1,167,920 87% 35M $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) Facepunch Studios
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition older $49.99 823,357 96% 25M $1.2B (exactly $1,234,788,493) CD PROJEKT RED
HELLDIVERS™ 2 older $39.99 838,901 76% 25M $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) Arrowhead Game Studios
Battlefield™ 6 $69.99 295,442 63% 8.9M $620M (exactly $620,339,567) Battlefield Studios
DayZ older $49.99 387,850 78% 12M $582M (exactly $581,658,645) Bohemia Interactive
No Man's Sky older $59.99 315,054 83% 9.5M $567M (exactly $567,002,684) Hello Games
Valheim $29.99 464,893 94% 14M $418M (exactly $418,264,232) Iron Gate AB
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
ARC Raiders $39.99 299,346 82% 9.0M $359M (exactly $359,125,396) Embark Studios
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 $49.99 181,667 95% 5.5M $272M (exactly $272,446,000) Sandfall Interactive
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II $59.99 144,558 93% 4.3M $260M (exactly $260,161,033) Warhorse Studios
Crimson Desert Enhanced $69.99 115,056 83% 3.5M $242M (exactly $241,583,083) Pearl Abyss
Monster Hunter Wilds $39.99 200,984 52% 6.0M $241M (exactly $241,120,505) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Hollow Knight: Silksong $19.99 386,977 89% 12M $232M (exactly $232,070,107) Team Cherry
Resident Evil Requiem $69.99 106,931 95% 3.2M $225M (exactly $224,523,021) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

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