Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Boomer Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Boomer Shooter Action RPG?

Action RPG + Boomer Shooter

Only 19 developers shipped a Boomer Shooter Action RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, SULFUR, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 26 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 26 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Boomer Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $89 → $419 → $6.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Boomer Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $19,337)
Top 5% $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 35
Announced 26
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 95% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Action RPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Boomer Shooter
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RPG, Boomer Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry FPS, Shooter, Action
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 10,397 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $420, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $7.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + NavalFair17 devs · median $15k · 11 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  3. + WesternFair13 devs · median $5.5k · 15 announced
  4. + Local MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorLong shot35 devs · median $450 · 33 announced
  6. + WuxiaPoor odds7 devs · median $198k · 28 announced
  7. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  8. + MechsPoor odds21 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  9. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  10. + Dating SimPoor odds31 devs · median $44k · 47 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds23 devs · median $26k · 69 announced
  12. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced

All 211 pairs on the Action RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

SULFUR 2024 · EA · $7.2M Fashion Police Squad 2022 · $523k Strife: Veteran Edition 2014 · $142k Beyond Sunset 2025 · $89k goblinAmerica 2026 · EA · $80k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SULFUR · EA $24.99 9,641 87% 289k $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) Perfect Random
Fashion Police Squad older $19.99 872 90% 26k $523k (exactly $522,938) Mopeful Games
Strife: Veteran Edition older $9.99 475 90% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Rogue Entertainment
Beyond Sunset $9.99 297 77% 8.9k $89k (exactly $89,011) Metacorp / Vaporware
goblinAmerica · EA $14.99 179 96% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Gil Lawson
Blood Rush · EA $14.49 161 98% 4.8k $70k (exactly $69,987) MaxEstLa
Cyberscape $14.99 43 93% 1.3k $19k (exactly $19,337) AtomicTorch Studio
The Explorator · EA $13.99 38 73% 1.1k $16k (exactly $15,949) Remnant games studio
ALARIC $14.99 14 92% 420 $6.3k (exactly $6,296) Dominik Grigoras
Sherwood Extreme older $9.99 20 100% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) CAGE Studios
Agony Increment $7.99 17 100% 510 $4.1k (exactly $4,075) Parish Softworks
Gauntlet $2.99 5 80% 150 $449 (exactly $449) extMag
The Cute the Baldy and the Fluffy $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) lightUP

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