Games › Action › Action + Bullet Time
Should I ship a Bullet Time Action game?
Action + Bullet Time
Of 282 developers who shipped a Bullet Time 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.. 475 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×438 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 475 games are announced against 160 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) |
| Top 5% | $275k (exactly $274,767) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 282 |
| Released games | 929 |
| Announced | 475 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Bullet Time
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Bullet Time; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Combat, FPS
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 37,262 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 140 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 475 games are announced against 160 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Max Payne 3 | older | $19.99 | 55,150 86% | 1.7M | $33M (exactly $33,073,455) | Rockstar Studios |
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | Killing Floor | older | $19.99 | 39,850 95% | 1.2M | $24M (exactly $23,898,045) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Killing Floor 3 | $39.99 | 16,493 46% | 495k | $20M (exactly $19,786,652) | Tripwire Interactive | |
| | Trepang2 | older | $39.99 | 15,774 93% | 473k | $19M (exactly $18,924,068) | Trepang Studios |
| | My Friend Pedro | older | $19.99 | 24,570 95% | 737k | $15M (exactly $14,734,629) | DeadToast Entertainment |
| | Call of Juarez: Gunslinger | older | $14.99 | 20,869 94% | 626k | $9.4M (exactly $9,384,789) | Techland |
| | SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE | older | $24.99 | 9,247 85% | 277k | $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Severed Steel | older | $24.99 | 8,880 95% | 266k | $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) | Greylock Studio |
| | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
| | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
| | Killer Bean | · EA | $14.99 | 2,272 73% | 68k | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,718) | Killer Bean Studios LLC |
| | Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone | · EA | $24.99 | 1,180 78% | 35k | $885k (exactly $884,646) | ANB_Seth |
| | KILL KNIGHT | $14.99 | 1,804 93% | 54k | $811k (exactly $811,259) | PlaySide | |
| | Better Than Dead | · EA | $14.99 | 1,500 72% | 45k | $675k (exactly $674,550) | MONTE GALLO |
| | Rogue Command | $19.99 | 1,018 89% | 31k | $610k (exactly $610,495) | feneq | |
| | Out of Action | · EA | $19.99 | 916 77% | 27k | $549k (exactly $549,325) | Doku Games LTD |
| | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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