Do I ship it?

Games › Arena Shooter › Arena Shooter + Crafting

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Arena Shooter?

Arena Shooter + Crafting

Only 17 developers shipped a Crafting Arena Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, TerraTech Legion, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $630k, ×1006 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 31 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 31 announced, ×5.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arena Shooter + Crafting
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $19k → $899 → $3.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arena Shooter + Crafting: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $19,418)
Top 5% $632k (exactly $632,067)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 46
Announced 31
Effort 6 / 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 170% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Arena Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Crafting
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Arena Shooter, Crafting; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Action Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 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 $6.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,081 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $600, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $630k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + IncrementalFair15 devs · median $3.5k · 20 announced
  2. + DemonsFair54 devs · median $1.3k · 55 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  4. + Multiple EndingsFair18 devs · median $597 · 16 announced
  5. + CollectathonLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 13 announced
  6. + DeckbuildingPoor odds9 devs · median $3.1k · 26 announced
  7. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds75 devs · median $2.3k · 101 announced
  8. + Class-BasedPoor odds19 devs · median $2.2k · 50 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterPoor odds133 devs · median $1.8k · 165 announced
  10. + Dark FantasyPoor odds59 devs · median $1.7k · 85 announced
  11. + On-Rails ShooterPoor odds10 devs · median $1.5k · 11 announced
  12. + RPGPoor odds88 devs · median $1.4k · 124 announced

All 134 pairs on the Arena Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball 2015 · $677k TerraTech Legion 2026 · $632k Astroloot 2025 · EA · $123k W.A.N.D. Project 2024 · $52k OPG: Clan Wars 2025 · $30k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball older $9.99 2,258 91% 68k $677k (exactly $676,723) Erik Asmussen
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Astroloot · EA $6.99 587 92% 18k $123k (exactly $123,094) Andreas Hager Gaming
W.A.N.D. Project $9.99 172 68% 5.2k $52k (exactly $51,548) The Knights of Unity
OPG: Clan Wars $9.99 101 74% 3.0k $30k (exactly $30,270) Anarchy Games, Street's Game
Gunforged $8.99 72 80% 2.2k $19k (exactly $19,418) Firebelley
Jetman Go older $1.99 165 81% 5.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,850) Linkflag Studio
Dead City · EA older $6.99 29 58% 870 $6.1k (exactly $6,081) Novalink
Ultimate Summer · EA older $6.99 23 95% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) Asmodev
GRING×GRIND $4.99 24 66% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Lola Fisher
GunX - Lock and Load $14.99 7 57% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) Irusu Studios, Irusu Studios
Mecha Blitz $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Cadre Creative Labs
Survivors Dawn: Zombie World $19.99 1 100% 30 $600 (exactly $600) Uygar Bursalıoğlu
Gauntlet $2.99 5 80% 150 $449 (exactly $449) extMag

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