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Should I ship a Twin Stick Shooter Adventure game?
Adventure + Twin Stick Shooter
Of 82 developers who shipped a Twin Stick Shooter Adventure game 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.. 202 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×351 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 202 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $8.6k (exactly $8,573) |
| Top 5% | $167k (exactly $166,717) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 351 |
| Announced | 202 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Twin Stick Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure, Twin Stick Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 7,352 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 202 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Ascent | older | $29.99 | 19,235 74% | 577k | $17M (exactly $17,305,730) | Neon Giant |
| | Bastion | older | $14.99 | 28,223 95% | 847k | $13M (exactly $12,691,883) | Supergiant Games |
| | Darksiders Genesis | older | $29.99 | 10,379 82% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,337,986) | Airship Syndicate |
| | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef | older | $19.99 | 2,586 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) | Rogueside |
| | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
| | Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light | older | $9.99 | 3,566 92% | 107k | $1.1M (exactly $1,068,730) | Crystal Dynamics |
| | 永远消失的幻想乡 ~ The Disappearing of Gensokyo | older | $10.99 | 3,023 83% | 91k | $997k (exactly $996,683) | MyACG Studio |
| | Juicy Realm | older | $9.99 | 3,269 87% | 98k | $980k (exactly $979,719) | SpaceCan |
| | Rusted Moss | older | $19.99 | 1,575 88% | 47k | $945k (exactly $944,527) | Emlise, happysquared, sunnydaze |
| | Relic Hunters Legend | $19.99 | 1,101 65% | 33k | $660k (exactly $660,270) | Rogue Snail | |
| | Section 13 | $19.99 | 770 70% | 23k | $462k (exactly $461,769) | Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. | |
| | Galactic Glitch | $12.99 | 920 89% | 28k | $359k (exactly $358,524) | Crunchy Leaf Games | |
| | The Ember Guardian | $19.99 | 278 82% | 8.3k | $167k (exactly $166,717) | Ratbit Games | |
| | CyberCorp | $14.99 | 351 75% | 11k | $158k (exactly $157,845) | Megame LLC | |
| | Time Treker | $6.99 | 399 65% | 12k | $84k (exactly $83,670) | Fuse Game | |
| | Pinball Storm: Lokanta | $5.99 | 434 70% | 13k | $78k (exactly $77,990) | Aastral Dynamics | |
| | MineGeon: Renegades | $19.99 | 93 63% | 2.8k | $56k (exactly $55,772) | Kickstone Studio | |
| | DAMON and BABY | $19.99 | 87 89% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | Arc System Works |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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