Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Heaven › Bullet Heaven + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Bullet Heaven?

Bullet Heaven + Aliens

Of 22 developers who shipped an Alien Bullet Heaven 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×2395 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 39 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Heaven + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1M → $675 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Heaven + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 25% $7.6k (exactly $7,583)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 31
Announced 39
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 flat on the market, supply 350% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Bullet Heaven
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Bullet Heaven; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Roguelite
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 49,724 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $7.5k, 1 in 20 over $1.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Bullet Heaven with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Online Co-OpStrong odds27 devs · median $9.3k · 38 announced
  2. + Class-BasedFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 38 announced
  3. + CraftingPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  4. + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds19 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  5. + Action RPGPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced
  6. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds21 devs · median $17k · 53 announced
  7. + LootPoor odds54 devs · median $14k · 100 announced
  8. + Tower DefensePoor odds29 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  9. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds51 devs · median $11k · 57 announced
  10. + ZombiesPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 40 announced
  11. + RPGPoor odds120 devs · median $9.3k · 156 announced
  12. + Hack and SlashPoor odds70 devs · median $8.3k · 97 announced

All 48 pairs on the Bullet Heaven page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Greedland 2025 · $1.1M Gunlocked 2022 · $69k Void Scrappers 2022 · $68k Let Them Come: Onslaught 2025 · $52k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Gunlocked older $4.99 463 87% 14k $69k (exactly $69,311) FromLefcourt
Void Scrappers older $3.99 571 89% 17k $68k (exactly $68,349) 8BitSkull
Let Them Come: Onslaught $7.99 216 89% 6.5k $52k (exactly $51,775) Tuatara Games
Arcadium - Space Odyssey $7.99 110 93% 3.3k $26k (exactly $26,367) Luciano Bercini
Gunlocked 2 $11.99 67 80% 2.0k $24k (exactly $24,100) FromLefcourt
Nebula older $3.99 172 86% 5.2k $21k (exactly $20,588) JuTek Pixel
Spelp older $4.99 56 89% 1.7k $8.4k (exactly $8,383) Yawee
Cosmic Run $10.99 23 69% 690 $7.6k (exactly $7,583) Zinktank Labs
Guardians Of Restoration $8.99 16 87% 480 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Creative Gorae
Rogue Scum $14.99 5 60% 150 $2.2k (exactly $2,248) Secret Shark Club
Nano Squadron $5.99 7 85% 210 $1.3k (exactly $1,258) Rough Sawn Games
Take Me to Your Leader $5.99 7 100% 210 $1.3k (exactly $1,258) DoPhil

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