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Should I ship an Alien Arcade game?
Arcade + Aliens
Of 297 developers who shipped an Alien Arcade 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.. 287 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 167 developers shipped in the last year and 287 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $240 (exactly $240) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 5% | $27k (exactly $26,618) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 297 |
| Released games | 892 |
| Announced | 287 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 45% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 79,409 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 146 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 287 games are announced against 167 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Starship Troopers: Extermination 2024 · $27M 
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M 
Contra: Operation Galuga 2024 · $972k 
Alien Hominid Invasion 2023 · $943k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Starship Troopers: Extermination | $29.99 | 29,724 80% | 892k | $27M (exactly $26,742,683) | Offworld | |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | $12.99 | 46,354 86% | 1.4M | $18M (exactly $18,064,154) | Funday Games | |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 | older | $59.99 | 6,225 69% | 187k | $11M (exactly $11,203,132) | SANDLOT |
| | Contra: Operation Galuga | older | $39.99 | 810 87% | 24k | $972k (exactly $971,757) | WayForward |
| | Alien Hominid Invasion | older | $19.99 | 1,572 88% | 47k | $943k (exactly $942,728) | The Behemoth |
 | Alien Rage - Unlimited | older | $19.99 | 1,441 69% | 43k | $864k (exactly $864,168) | CI Games |
 | Alien Shooter | older | $4.99 | 3,919 95% | 118k | $587k (exactly $586,674) | Sigma Team Inc. |
 | Star Fire: Eternal Cycle | $16.99 | 1,012 91% | 30k | $516k (exactly $515,816) | Ethereal Fish Studio | |
 | Halo: Spartan Assault | older | $2.99 | 4,397 78% | 132k | $394k (exactly $394,411) | Vanguard Games, 343 Industries |
 | Viscerafest | $19.99 | 540 87% | 16k | $324k (exactly $323,838) | Acid Man Games, Fire Plant Games | |
 | YOU ARE THE MONSTER | · EA | $9.99 | 488 69% | 15k | $146k (exactly $146,254) | Joshua Hughes |
 | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
 | Starbreed | $10.99 | 271 95% | 8.1k | $89k (exactly $89,349) | RegulusNSFW | |
 | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | 閃攻機人アスラ - ASURA THE STRIKER - | $14.99 | 145 91% | 4.4k | $65k (exactly $65,206) | LeftOver | |
 | Raiden NOVA | 雷電NOVA | 雷電新星 | $29.99 | 66 72% | 2.0k | $59k (exactly $59,380) | MOSS Co., Ltd. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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