Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Aliens

Only 18 developers shipped an Alien Hero Shooter 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, Arken Age, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.8 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×596 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 25 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $90 → $3.0k → $2.3k → $11k → $449 → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $21,279)
Top 5% $803k (exactly $802,599)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 98
Announced 25
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 100% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than 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
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
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Combat
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,523 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 $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $21k, 1 in 20 over $800k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hero Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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

Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Arken Age 2025 · $803k 420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR -=Dank Dreams and Goated Memes=- [#wow/11 Like and Subscribe] Poggerz Edition 2024 · $510k RIPOUT 2024 · $470k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Arken Age $39.99 669 90% 20k $803k (exactly $802,599) VitruviusVR
420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR -=Dank Dreams and Goated Memes=- [#wow/11 Like and Subscribe] Poggerz Edition $10.99 1,546 98% 46k $510k (exactly $509,716) Normal Wholesome Games
RIPOUT older $19.99 783 65% 23k $470k (exactly $469,565) Pet Project Games
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games
Operation Night Strikers $24.99 48 77% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) M2 Co., Ltd.
METAL SUITS: Counter-attack $9.99 71 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $21,279) Gonggamore Contents
Alien Strike: Blasting the Intruders $9.99 57 85% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Combo Game Studio
Bots City older $49.99 10 90% 300 $15k (exactly $14,997) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Harpagun $19.99 19 73% 570 $11k (exactly $11,394) Something Random
SorcerialBladeCannon $12.99 6 66% 180 $2.3k (exactly $2,338) MACHINECODE
Monstergasm $4.99 7 57% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Red Sasori
Lunar Corps® · EA $4.99 4 75% 120 $599 (exactly $599) Flare Gun Studios

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