Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Top-Down Shooter

Of 199 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter 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.. 365 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 101 developers shipped in the last year and 365 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 365 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 199
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $1.9k → $599 → $898 → $449 → $359 → $419 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 199
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,336)
Top 5% $89k (exactly $88,591)
Developers, 2 yr 199
Released games 637
Announced 365
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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action-Adventure, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 91,481 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $88k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 115 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 365 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M Starcom: Unknown Space 2024 · $3.3M Tiny Rogues 2022 · EA · $3.1M Intravenous 2 2024 · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
Aliens: Dark Descent older $39.99 15,310 87% 459k $18M (exactly $18,367,407) Tindalos Interactive
Starcom: Unknown Space older $24.99 4,464 92% 134k $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) Wx3 Labs, LLC
Tiny Rogues · EA older $9.99 10,244 96% 307k $3.1M (exactly $3,070,127) RubyDev
Intravenous 2 older $19.99 4,069 95% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,440,179) Explosive Squat Games
Wizard with a Gun older $24.99 2,932 80% 88k $2.2M (exactly $2,198,120) Galvanic Games
Silly Polly Beast $19.99 2,278 90% 68k $1.4M (exactly $1,366,117) Anji
Blazing Beaks older $14.99 2,043 84% 61k $919k (exactly $918,737) Applava
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
Endoparasitic older $9.99 2,928 93% 88k $878k (exactly $877,522) Miziziziz
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Brigador Killers · EA $24.99 572 69% 17k $429k (exactly $428,828) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Dinotica $17.99 746 86% 22k $403k (exactly $402,616) XA Studio
Trench Lord: Eastern Front $11.99 774 83% 23k $278k (exactly $278,408) Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD.
[REDACTED] $24.99 328 81% 9.8k $246k (exactly $245,902) Striking Distance Studios
DunHero $8.99 530 89% 16k $143k (exactly $142,941) Dev Kacper
PROHIBEAST $34.99 121 57% 3.6k $127k (exactly $127,014) SUPER AC
Dino Path Trail $14.99 197 76% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) Void Pointer

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