Do I ship it?

GamesHero ShooterHero Shooter + Adventure

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Adventure Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Adventure

Of 112 developers who shipped an Adventure 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.. 163 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build. 57 developers shipped in the last year and 163 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 163 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Adventure
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 112
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $419 → $713 → $479 → $1.3k → $899 → $150 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Adventure: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 112
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,116)
Top 5% $98k (exactly $97,751)
Developers, 2 yr 112
Released games 443
Announced 163
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hero Shooter
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
Adventure
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, Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 6,914 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 $300, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $97k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 72 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 163 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Battlefield™ 2042 older $59.99 260,308 49% 7.8M $468M (exactly $468,476,308) DICE
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare older $59.99 17,489 65% 525k $31M (exactly $31,474,953) Infinity Ward
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
SUPERHOT VR older $24.99 7,978 82% 239k $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) SUPERHOT Team
Wild Assault $14.99 3,861 68% 116k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) Combat Cat Studio
Them and Us older $39.99 1,216 76% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,458,835) TendoGames Co., Ltd.
Arken Age $39.99 669 90% 20k $803k (exactly $802,599) VitruviusVR
Serious Sam: Shatterverse $19.99 648 50% 19k $389k (exactly $388,606) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
The Living Remain $19.99 289 79% 8.7k $173k (exactly $173,313) Five Finger Studios
illWill older $19.99 279 91% 8.4k $167k (exactly $167,316) Slava Bushuev
Warden's Will $14.99 304 70% 9.1k $137k (exactly $136,709) ELYZIO
Devilated $19.99 163 85% 4.9k $98k (exactly $97,751) Trunka
Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening $24.99 119 77% 3.6k $89k (exactly $89,214) Magic Pockets
Beyond Sunset $9.99 297 77% 8.9k $89k (exactly $89,011) Metacorp / Vaporware
Iron Core: Mech Survivor $6.99 352 73% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Soda Game Studio
Lust 'n Dead 🔞 $9.99 212 66% 6.4k $64k (exactly $63,536) Octo Games

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