Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Aliens

Of 181 developers who shipped an Alien Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 166 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 97 developers shipped in the last year and 166 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 166 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 181
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $538 → $119 → $599 → $179 → $299 → $599 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 181
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 5% $25k (exactly $24,588)
Developers, 2 yr 181
Released games 576
Announced 166
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 80% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
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
Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,681 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $24k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 93 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 166 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Zombotron 2019 · $1.3M Greedland 2025 · $1.1M Contra: Operation Galuga 2024 · $972k
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
Zombotron older $14.99 2,974 89% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,337,408) Ant.Karlov Games
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Contra: Operation Galuga older $39.99 810 87% 24k $972k (exactly $971,757) WayForward
Soda Crisis older $10.99 2,915 93% 87k $961k (exactly $961,076) Team Soda
Alien Hominid Invasion older $19.99 1,572 88% 47k $943k (exactly $942,728) The Behemoth
Angel at Dusk older $14.99 1,676 98% 50k $754k (exactly $753,697) Akiragoya
Alien Shooter 2 - The Legend older $14.99 1,087 52% 33k $489k (exactly $488,824) Sigma Team Inc.
Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded older $4.99 2,517 92% 76k $377k (exactly $376,795) Sigma Team Inc.
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
R-Type Delta: HD Boosted $24.99 86 81% 2.6k $64k (exactly $64,474) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Raiden NOVA | 雷電NOVA | 雷電新星 $29.99 66 72% 2.0k $59k (exactly $59,380) MOSS Co., Ltd.
Super Roboy $14.99 109 93% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) Vincent Penning
R-Type Dimensions III $34.99 46 34% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) KRITZELKRATZ 3000
ChainStaff $14.99 84 92% 2.5k $38k (exactly $37,775) Mommy's Best Games
Palpus X Annihilation $11.99 74 95% 2.2k $27k (exactly $26,618) Sebastian Vargek (Meister Palpus)
X-Out: Resurfaced $19.99 41 95% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) KRITZELKRATZ 3000, Rainbow Arts

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