Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Arcade

Of 67 developers who shipped an Arcade Looter Shooter 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.. 84 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build. 37 developers shipped in the last year and 84 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 220% on the market, 84 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 67
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $989 → $958 → $539 → $120 → $238 → $299 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 67
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $178 (exactly $178)
Top 25% $1.4k (exactly $1,436)
Top 5% $512k (exactly $512,045)
Developers, 2 yr 67
Released games 195
Announced 84
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 220% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Arcade; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 7,910 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $180, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $510k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Risk of Rain Returns 2023 · $11M Crab Champions 2023 · EA · $8.0M GTTOD 2017 · EA · $2.7M R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program 2026 · $1.2M ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Risk of Rain Returns older $14.99 24,795 89% 744k $11M (exactly $11,150,312) Hopoo Games
Crab Champions · EA older $9.99 26,546 97% 796k $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) Noisestorm
GTTOD · EA older $29.99 3,010 87% 90k $2.7M (exactly $2,708,097) Andrew Smith, STUDIO Bare Bones
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
ROBOBEAT older $19.99 1,708 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) Simon Fredholm
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Alien Shooter older $4.99 3,919 95% 118k $587k (exactly $586,674) Sigma Team Inc.
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Anarchy: Wolf's law older $9.99 768 76% 23k $230k (exactly $230,170) Anarchy Games
AFTERBLAST · EA $14.99 223 76% 6.7k $100k (exactly $100,283) Lumino Games
Nakara $9.99 310 91% 9.3k $93k (exactly $92,907) R3dspike
Soulforge Lost Path $8.99 302 69% 9.1k $81k (exactly $81,449) Ziyue
Deep Space Exploitation $8.99 131 96% 3.9k $35k (exactly $35,331) JuhrJuhr
No Way Home $9.99 76 88% 2.3k $23k (exactly $22,777) SMG Studio
Trigger Land $7.99 17 64% 510 $4.1k (exactly $4,075) Zachery Studios

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