Games › Third-Person Shooter › Third-Person Shooter + Arcade
Should I ship an Arcade Third-Person Shooter?
Third-Person Shooter + Arcade
Of 152 developers who shipped an Arcade Third-Person 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.. 238 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 238 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper, while revenue is up 125% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,830) |
| Top 5% | $215k (exactly $215,484) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 152 |
| Released games | 500 |
| Announced | 238 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 125% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Third-Person Shooter
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Third-Person Shooter, Arcade; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, PvE
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 149,622 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 96 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 238 games are announced against 79 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Third-Person Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RhythmStrong odds
- + WesternFair
- + CollectathonLong shot
- + Time ManagementLong shot
- + Walking SimulatorLong shot
- + Class-BasedPoor odds
- + Creature CollectorPoor odds
- + DinosaursPoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
Comparable games
REMATCH 2025 · $36M 
Megabonk 2025 · $30M 
Returnal™ 2023 · $12M 
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M 
Crab Champions 2023 · EA · $8.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | REMATCH | $29.99 | 39,905 70% | 1.2M | $36M (exactly $35,902,528) | Sloclap | |
| | Megabonk | $9.99 | 100,202 94% | 3.0M | $30M (exactly $30,030,539) | vedinad | |
| | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
| | EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 | older | $59.99 | 6,225 69% | 187k | $11M (exactly $11,203,132) | SANDLOT |
| | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
 | Vanquish | older | $19.99 | 6,974 89% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,182,308) | PlatinumGames, Little Stone Software |
 | Alan Wake's American Nightmare | older | $8.99 | 8,352 74% | 251k | $2.3M (exactly $2,252,534) | Remedy Entertainment |
 | Orcs Must Die! | older | $9.99 | 6,663 95% | 200k | $2.0M (exactly $1,996,901) | Robot Entertainment |
 | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
 | Rollerdrome | older | $29.99 | 1,486 91% | 45k | $1.3M (exactly $1,336,954) | Roll7 |
 | Vellum | $19.99 | 1,290 89% | 39k | $774k (exactly $773,613) | Alvios Games | |
 | Brickadia | · EA | $19.99 | 1,269 81% | 38k | $761k (exactly $761,019) | Brickadia, LLC |
 | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
 | The Bleakest Keep | $9.99 | 719 90% | 22k | $215k (exactly $215,484) | Cache of Bones | |
 | Pizza Bandit | · EA | $24.99 | 185 82% | 5.6k | $139k (exactly $138,694) | JOFSOFT |
 | BeastLink | · EA | $19.99 | 187 45% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $112,144) | Grove Street Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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