Games › Arcade › Arcade + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Arcade game?
Arcade + Top-Down Shooter
Of 605 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Arcade game 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.. 721 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 340 developers shipped in the last year and 721 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 5% | $81k (exactly $80,919) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 605 |
| Released games | 1,889 |
| Announced | 721 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 120,225 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 304 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 721 games are announced against 340 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number 2015 · $31M 
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M 
Brotato 2023 · $17M 
BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M 
The Precinct 2025 · $7.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number | older | $14.99 | 69,423 94% | 2.1M | $31M (exactly $31,219,523) | Dennaton Games |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | $12.99 | 46,354 86% | 1.4M | $18M (exactly $18,064,154) | Funday Games | |
| | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
| | BALL x PIT | $14.99 | 24,714 95% | 741k | $11M (exactly $11,113,886) | Kenny Sun and Friends | |
| | The Precinct | $29.99 | 7,837 87% | 235k | $7.1M (exactly $7,050,949) | Fallen Tree Games Ltd | |
 | Yet Another Zombie Survivors | $14.99 | 14,123 91% | 424k | $6.4M (exactly $6,351,113) | Awesome Games Studio | |
 | The Spell Brigade | $12.99 | 14,731 80% | 442k | $5.7M (exactly $5,740,671) | Bolt Blaster Games | |
 | Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate | older | $9.99 | 5,918 92% | 178k | $1.8M (exactly $1,773,625) | PUNKCAKE Delicieux |
 | APE OUT | older | $14.99 | 3,733 94% | 112k | $1.7M (exactly $1,678,730) | Gabe Cuzzillo, Bennett Foddy, Maxi Boch |
 | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | KILL KNIGHT | $14.99 | 1,804 93% | 54k | $811k (exactly $811,259) | PlaySide | |
 | Glyphica: Typing Survival | · EA | $9.99 | 2,488 90% | 75k | $746k (exactly $745,654) | aliasBLACK |
 | Zombieville USA 3D | $9.99 | 2,184 92% | 66k | $655k (exactly $654,545) | Mika Mobile, Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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