Games › On-Rails Shooter › On-Rails Shooter + Arcade
Should I ship an Arcade On-Rails Shooter?
On-Rails Shooter + Arcade
Of 80 developers who shipped an Arcade On-Rails 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.. 91 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 $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×238 the market median. Revenue is up 160% on the market; 91 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $750 (exactly $750) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
| Top 5% | $113k (exactly $112,875) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 80 |
| Released games | 290 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 160% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- On-Rails Shooter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- On-Rails Shooter, Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Action, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Retro, 1990's
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 2,415 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
On-Rails Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + CyberpunkFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Bullet TimeLong shot
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + Bullet HellPoor odds
- + FuturisticPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + FantasyPoor odds
Comparable games
Pistol Whip 2019 · $3.2M 
THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: Remake 2022 · $2.0M 
The Typing of The Dead: Overkill 2013 · $1.7M 
Rez Infinite 2017 · $874k 
Say No! More 2021 · $794k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
| | THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: Remake | older | $24.99 | 2,703 68% | 81k | $2.0M (exactly $2,026,439) | MegaPixel Studio S. A. |
| | The Typing of The Dead: Overkill | older | $19.99 | 2,782 87% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,668,365) | Modern Dream |
| | Rez Infinite | older | $24.99 | 1,166 91% | 35k | $874k (exactly $874,150) | Monstars Inc., Resonair |
| | Say No! More | older | $14.99 | 1,766 91% | 53k | $794k (exactly $794,170) | Studio Fizbin |
 | UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves | older | $39.99 | 559 84% | 17k | $671k (exactly $670,632) | Endroad |
 | Panzer Dragoon: Remake | older | $24.99 | 862 78% | 26k | $646k (exactly $646,241) | MegaPixel Studio S. A. |
 | Blue Estate The Game | older | $12.99 | 1,515 92% | 45k | $590k (exactly $590,396) | HE SAW |
 | THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake | $24.99 | 607 44% | 18k | $455k (exactly $455,068) | MegaPixel Studio S. A. | |
 | CYGNI: All Guns Blazing | older | $29.99 | 448 60% | 13k | $403k (exactly $403,066) | KeelWorks |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
 | ROGUE FLIGHT | $19.99 | 279 96% | 8.4k | $167k (exactly $167,316) | Truant Pixel, LLC | |
 | Wild Blue Skies | $14.99 | 251 58% | 7.5k | $113k (exactly $112,875) | Chuhai Labs, VITEI BACKROOM Inc. | |
 | Starbreed | $10.99 | 271 95% | 8.1k | $89k (exactly $89,349) | RegulusNSFW | |
 | 閃攻機人アスラ - ASURA THE STRIKER - | $14.99 | 145 91% | 4.4k | $65k (exactly $65,206) | LeftOver | |
 | NIGHT STRIKER GEAR | $18.99 | 94 88% | 2.8k | $54k (exactly $53,552) | M2 Co., Ltd., M2 Co.,LTD | |
 | Operation Night Strikers | $24.99 | 48 77% | 1.4k | $36k (exactly $35,986) | M2 Co., Ltd. | |
 | ULTRA0 | $9.99 | 89 96% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,673) | PenGames | |
 | DOGENSTEIN | $4.99 | 146 73% | 4.4k | $22k (exactly $21,856) | Marc Leclerc |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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