Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Beat 'em up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up

Of 582 developers who shipped a Beat 'em up 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.. 1,000 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×529 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 1,000 games are announced against 300 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 1,000 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 582
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $1.9k → $1.2k → $839 → $479 → $1.0k → $599 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 582
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $7.5k (exactly $7,492)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $251,149)
Developers, 2 yr 582
Released games 2,250
Announced 1,000
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Beat 'em up
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Beat 'em up
Price point
$6.99 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 $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 93,353 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $7.4k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 356 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,000 games are announced against 300 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Beat 'em up

36 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Beat 'em up + LGBTQ+ Fair $76k 14 devs
  2. Beat 'em up + Ninja Long shot $359 29 devs
  3. Beat 'em up + Modern Poor odds $6.6k 12 devs
  4. Beat 'em up + Female Protagonist Poor odds $2.7k 86 devs
  5. Beat 'em up + Martial Arts Poor odds $2.7k 65 devs
  6. Beat 'em up + Mythology Poor odds $2.4k 13 devs
  7. Beat 'em up + Crime Poor odds $1.9k 11 devs
  8. Beat 'em up + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $1.8k 25 devs
  9. Beat 'em up + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $1.8k 9 devs
  10. Beat 'em up + Historical Poor odds $1.5k 13 devs
  11. Beat 'em up + Cyberpunk Poor odds $1.2k 34 devs
  12. Beat 'em up + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $1.2k 53 devs
  13. Beat 'em up + Demons Poor odds $1.2k 25 devs
  14. Beat 'em up + Superhero Poor odds $959 17 devs
  15. Beat 'em up + Aliens Poor odds $839 18 devs
  16. Beat 'em up + Magic Poor odds $836 52 devs
  17. Beat 'em up + Medieval Poor odds $748 56 devs
  18. Beat 'em up + Futuristic Poor odds $719 42 devs
  19. Beat 'em up + Fantasy Poor odds $600 133 devs
  20. Beat 'em up + Sci-fi Poor odds $599 67 devs
  21. Beat 'em up + Space Poor odds $539 24 devs
  22. Beat 'em up + Horror Poor odds $478 23 devs
  23. Beat 'em up + Robots Poor odds $419 25 devs
  24. Beat 'em up + Dystopian Poor odds $300 12 devs
  25. Beat 'em up + War Poor odds $299 13 devs
  26. Beat 'em up + Mechs Dead $246k 7 devs
  27. Beat 'em up + Psychological Horror Dead $9.3k 8 devs
  28. Beat 'em up + Noir Dead $6.6k 8 devs
  29. Beat 'em up + Assassins Dead $1.4k 7 devs
  30. Beat 'em up + Cats Dead $1.2k 8 devs
  31. Beat 'em up + Mystery Dead $959 14 devs
  32. Beat 'em up + Alternate History Dead $359 14 devs
  33. Beat 'em up + Military Dead $300 14 devs
  34. Beat 'em up + Zombies Dead $240 32 devs
  35. Beat 'em up + Nature Dead $150 22 devs
  36. Beat 'em up + Dragons Dead $150 10 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M Batman™: Arkham Knight 2015 · $67M METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE 2014 · $62M Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2025 · $60M Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2022 · $59M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
TEKKEN 7 older $39.99 68,063 83% 2.0M $82M (exactly $81,655,181) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Batman™: Arkham Knight older $19.99 111,190 92% 3.3M $67M (exactly $66,680,643) Rocksteady Studios
METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE older $29.99 69,104 96% 2.1M $62M (exactly $62,172,869) PlatinumGames
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 $59.99 33,433 83% 1.0M $60M (exactly $60,169,370) Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales older $49.99 39,234 93% 1.2M $59M (exactly $58,839,230) Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software
Castle Crashers® older $14.99 109,654 96% 3.3M $49M (exactly $49,311,404) The Behemoth
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 older $19.99 72,409 90% 2.2M $43M (exactly $43,423,677) CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd.
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition older $19.99 70,499 94% 2.1M $42M (exactly $42,278,250) United Front Games, Feral Interactive (… (United Front Games, Feral Interactive (Mac))
Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition older $19.99 62,057 96% 1.9M $37M (exactly $37,215,583) Rocksteady Studios
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth older $69.99 16,339 90% 490k $34M (exactly $34,306,998) RGG Studio
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Absolum $24.99 9,399 91% 282k $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
Rotwood $29.99 7,459 74% 224k $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) Klei Entertainment
Lost Castle 2 $17.99 10,851 78% 326k $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) Hunter Studio
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties $59.99 2,229 62% 67k $4.0M (exactly $4,011,531) RGG Studio
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate $29.99 4,143 83% 124k $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) Super Evil Megacorp
Stick It to the Stickman · EA $11.99 7,918 96% 238k $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) Free Lives
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital

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