Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Bullet Hell Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Bullet Hell
Of 287 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell 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.. 452 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $50k, ×80 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 452 games are announced against 151 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 5% | $50k (exactly $50,358) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 287 |
| Released games | 778 |
| Announced | 452 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 25% on the market, supply 10% 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-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure, Bullet Hell; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
- 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 81% positive over 9,742 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 158 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 452 games are announced against 151 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M 
Touhou Luna Nights 2019 · $7.4M 
Rabi-Ribi 2016 · $5.8M 
Dungeon Munchies 2022 · $4.0M 
Everhood 2021 · $3.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Neon Abyss | older | $31.49 | 19,709 86% | 591k | $19M (exactly $18,619,092) | Veewo Games |
| | Touhou Luna Nights | older | $17.99 | 13,776 97% | 413k | $7.4M (exactly $7,434,907) | Team Ladybug, WSS playground |
| | Rabi-Ribi | older | $17.99 | 10,768 95% | 323k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,490) | CreSpirit, GemaYue |
| | Dungeon Munchies | older | $19.99 | 6,596 97% | 198k | $4.0M (exactly $3,955,621) | maJAJa |
| | Everhood | older | $9.99 | 11,436 95% | 343k | $3.4M (exactly $3,427,369) | Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca |
 | TEVI | older | $29.99 | 3,580 88% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,220,926) | CreSpirit, GemaYue, Ein Lee |
 | Tiny Rogues | · EA older | $9.99 | 10,244 96% | 307k | $3.1M (exactly $3,070,127) | RubyDev |
 | Gensokyo Night Festival | · EA older | $12.99 | 4,497 69% | 135k | $1.8M (exactly $1,752,481) | WSS playground, tea_basira |
 | Pass the Fear | $18.99 | 2,985 79% | 90k | $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) | PlayMud Studio | |
 | Touhou Hero of Ice Fairy | older | $6.99 | 7,714 97% | 231k | $1.6M (exactly $1,617,626) | GAMEPULSE 游戏脉冲 |
 | Luna Abyss | $29.99 | 923 86% | 28k | $830k (exactly $830,423) | Kwalee Labs | |
 | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
 | Night Swarm | $9.99 | 1,142 78% | 34k | $342k (exactly $342,257) | Fubu Games | |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
 | Reap and Rush | $14.99 | 622 77% | 19k | $280k (exactly $279,713) | Beijing Pacifier Technology | |
 | DunHero | $8.99 | 530 89% | 16k | $143k (exactly $142,941) | Dev Kacper | |
 | DreamEcho | $11.99 | 369 79% | 11k | $133k (exactly $132,729) | HotWaterStudio | |
 | Archons | $9.99 | 406 92% | 12k | $122k (exactly $121,678) | BulletHell Studios | |
 | Cyberwar: Neon City | · EA | $17.99 | 171 90% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $92,289) | Cyber Monkey Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.