Games › Action › Action + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Action game?
Action + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 1,190 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 1,470 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 1,470 games are announced against 654 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper, while revenue is down 15% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $419 (exactly $419) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 5% | $81k (exactly $81,449) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 1,190 |
| Released games | 4,748 |
| Announced | 1,470 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Bullet Hell, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 57,499 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 639 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,470 games are announced against 654 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M 
Subverse 2024 · $17M 
BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M 
Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | PAYDAY 3 | older | $29.99 | 49,305 45% | 1.5M | $44M (exactly $44,359,708) | Starbreeze Studios |
| | Subverse | $39.99 | 13,781 66% | 413k | $17M (exactly $16,533,066) | Studio FOW Interactive | |
| | BALL x PIT | $14.99 | 24,714 95% | 741k | $11M (exactly $11,113,886) | Kenny Sun and Friends | |
| | Crysis 2 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 9,034 89% | 271k | $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
 | Nova Drift | older | $17.99 | 12,975 95% | 389k | $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) | Chimeric |
 | Crysis 3 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 7,731 88% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
 | Furi | older | $19.99 | 11,246 90% | 337k | $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) | The Game Bakers |
 | POSTAL 4: No Regerts | older | $19.99 | 10,855 67% | 326k | $6.5M (exactly $6,509,743) | Running With Scissors |
 | POSTAL: Brain Damaged | older | $19.99 | 9,565 95% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,736,130) | Hyperstrange, CreativeForge Games |
 | Metro Awakening | $29.99 | 3,013 73% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) | Vertigo Games | |
 | Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil | $17.99 | 3,740 98% | 112k | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) | 上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise | |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Beyond Sandbox | · EA | $19.99 | 1,223 39% | 37k | $733k (exactly $733,433) | Atlas XR |
 | Bloodshed | $12.99 | 1,824 84% | 55k | $711k (exactly $710,813) | com8com1 Software | |
 | I Am Legion: Stand Survivors | $8.99 | 2,432 82% | 73k | $656k (exactly $655,910) | JA Game Studio | |
 | Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer | $18.99 | 1,126 78% | 34k | $641k (exactly $641,482) | Runner Duck |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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