Do I ship it?

Games › Archery › Archery + Exploration

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Exploration Archery game?

Archery + Exploration

Of 32 developers who shipped an Exploration Archery 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.. 83 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1756 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 83 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 83 announced, ×5.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Archery + Exploration
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $63k → $1.2k → $5.1k → $2.4k → $809 → $898 → $6.5k (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Archery + Exploration: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,350)
Top 5% $834k (exactly $834,022)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 100
Announced 83
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 20% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Archery
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Exploration
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
Archery, Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action-Adventure, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 3,806 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $810, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $830k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Top-Down ShooterFair9 devs · median $359 · 11 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds13 devs · median $6.5k · 19 announced
  3. + Hack and SlashPoor odds18 devs · median $4.1k · 42 announced
  4. + HistoricalPoor odds11 devs · median $2.7k · 20 announced
  5. + RPGPoor odds28 devs · median $2.4k · 96 announced
  6. + PlatformerPoor odds13 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  7. + HuntingPoor odds9 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  8. + NaturePoor odds11 devs · median $1.8k · 36 announced
  9. + Action RPGPoor odds19 devs · median $1.5k · 58 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds15 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  11. + RoguelikePoor odds13 devs · median $1.0k · 25 announced
  12. + AdventurePoor odds52 devs · median $898 · 123 announced

All 46 pairs on the Archery page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition 2020 · $144M The Pathless 2021 · $2.3M BLACKTAIL 2022 · $1.8M Way of the Hunter 2 2026 · EA · $1.6M Northern Journey 2021 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition older $49.99 95,804 87% 2.9M $144M (exactly $143,677,259) Guerrilla
The Pathless older $39.99 1,944 90% 58k $2.3M (exactly $2,332,217) Giant Squid
BLACKTAIL older $29.99 1,968 83% 59k $1.8M (exactly $1,770,610) THE PARASIGHT
Way of the Hunter 2 · EA $34.99 1,534 73% 46k $1.6M (exactly $1,610,240) Nine Rocks Games
Northern Journey older $11.99 3,500 96% 105k $1.3M (exactly $1,258,950) Slid Studio
Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders older $29.99 1,020 68% 31k $918k (exactly $917,694) MeanAstronauts
Grimlord $29.99 927 78% 28k $834k (exactly $834,022) Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd
Unbridled: That Horse Game · EA $24.99 487 85% 15k $365k (exactly $365,104) Mind Evotion Games
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow $19.99 340 75% 10k $204k (exactly $203,898) Maze Theory
DragonRoad $19.98 82 91% 2.5k $49k (exactly $49,151) XuJie
Native Hunter $17.99 58 72% 1.7k $31k (exactly $31,303) A.P.S
Tales from The Dancing Moon $17.99 34 88% 1.0k $18k (exactly $18,350) DjMonkey
Journey of the Garden Rose $11.99 18 77% 540 $6.5k (exactly $6,475) Renegade Sector Games
Heart of Eternity $7.99 17 76% 510 $4.1k (exactly $4,075) Ukrainian Development Company

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