Do I ship it?

Games › Arena Shooter › Arena Shooter + Split Screen

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Split Screen Arena Shooter?

Arena Shooter + Split Screen

Of 27 developers who shipped a Split Screen Arena 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.. 38 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $10k, ×17 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 38 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 38 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arena Shooter + Split Screen
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $598 → $60 → $898 → $899 → $1.3k → $748 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arena Shooter + Split Screen: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,349)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $10,928)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 67
Announced 38
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Split Screen
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, Split Screen; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Multiplayer, PvP
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 279 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 $750, 1 in 4 over $1.3k, 1 in 20 over $10k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Screencheat 2014 · $383k Murder Miners 2014 · $356k MeowGun: Hell Denizen 2026 · $44k False Front 2023 · $22k Food Fight: Culinary Combat 2024 · $20k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Screencheat older $14.99 851 91% 26k $383k (exactly $382,695) Samurai Punk
Murder Miners older $2.99 3,965 87% 119k $356k (exactly $355,660) JForce Games
MeowGun: Hell Denizen $12.99 114 98% 3.4k $44k (exactly $44,426) SusaDeBastet
False Front older $8.99 80 82% 2.4k $22k (exactly $21,576) Svantech Studios
Food Fight: Culinary Combat older $14.99 44 93% 1.3k $20k (exactly $19,787) Mega Cat Studios
Spaceflux $4.99 73 57% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,928) Calin Ardelean
Chaos on Wheels $9.99 34 67% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) Acodeon Development
Motor Strike: Racing Rampage · EA older $13.99 18 94% 540 $7.6k (exactly $7,555) FivexGames
The Otterman Empire older $15.99 14 71% 420 $6.7k (exactly $6,716) Tri-Heart Interactive
Dirtnap · EA $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) Unstable Entity, Part Time Monkey, Nitr… (Unstable Entity, Part Time Monkey, Nitroyale)
Me, You and Kaiju · EA $14.99 10 90% 300 $4.5k (exactly $4,497) Sleepy Coast Games
Thumb Tanks $9.99 7 100% 210 $2.1k (exactly $2,098) thumbcramp
Death Metal Derby $14.99 3 100% 90 $1.3k (exactly $1,349) Turtle Duck Studio
LuPR: Lunar Post Recruit $4.99 8 100% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Epic Tech Labs LLC
Exanimate $11.99 3 100% 90 $1.1k (exactly $1,079) CodeCabanaGames
NOMSTERS $3.99 8 100% 240 $958 (exactly $958) Igor Yakunin

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