Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Action Roguelike

Of 41 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Hero Shooter 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.. 48 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×0.6 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 48 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper, while revenue is down 45% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 48 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.1k → $599 → $4.7k → $43k → $29k → $150 → $449 (still earning) → $4.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $807 (exactly $807)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,750)
Top 5% $137k (exactly $136,709)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 116
Announced 48
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 45% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hero Shooter
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter, Action Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Shooter
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 6,043 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 $810, 1 in 4 over $5.7k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hero Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SimulationLong shot31 devs · median $478 · 28 announced
  2. + Bullet HellLong shot59 devs · median $449 · 56 announced
  3. + Boomer ShooterLong shot30 devs · median $210 · 21 announced
  4. + MedievalLong shot10 devs · median $150 · 12 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds20 devs · median $7.2k · 51 announced
  6. + SuperheroPoor odds6 devs · median $6.3k · 11 announced
  7. + Battle RoyalePoor odds9 devs · median $3.6k · 29 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds22 devs · median $3.6k · 53 announced
  9. + PvPPoor odds27 devs · median $2.3k · 127 announced
  10. + PlatformerPoor odds21 devs · median $2.2k · 33 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds25 devs · median $2.1k · 68 announced
  12. + PhysicsPoor odds27 devs · median $1.6k · 34 announced

All 87 pairs on the Hero Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap 2025 · $3.6M Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok 2024 · $1.9M Wild Bastards 2024 · $647k Serious Sam: Shatterverse 2026 · $389k Warden's Will 2025 · $137k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap $29.99 4,053 69% 122k $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) Robot Entertainment
Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok older $9.99 6,180 88% 185k $1.9M (exactly $1,852,146) Noxfall Studios
Wild Bastards older $34.99 616 74% 18k $647k (exactly $646,615) Blue Manchu
Serious Sam: Shatterverse $19.99 648 50% 19k $389k (exactly $388,606) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Warden's Will $14.99 304 70% 9.1k $137k (exactly $136,709) ELYZIO
Mega City Force older $14.99 289 76% 8.7k $130k (exactly $129,963) Undreamed Games
Black Gunner Wukong older $9.99 417 98% 13k $125k (exactly $124,975) Wukong
Iron Core: Mech Survivor $6.99 352 73% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Soda Game Studio
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
Deadrock Redemption 2 $14.99 123 86% 3.7k $55k (exactly $55,313) Entropy Digital Entertainment
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games
GRUEL $9.99 96 97% 2.9k $29k (exactly $28,771) Mick Sengers, Cheesebaron
Touhou Brawl $11.99 39 51% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) FIVE DUCK GAMES
Deadrock Salvation $9.99 38 86% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,389) Ghost Machine

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