Should I ship an Assassin FPS?
FPS + Assassins
Only 17 developers shipped an Assassin FPS 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, Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $880k, ×591 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 39 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $480 (exactly $480) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,538) |
| Top 5% | $885k (exactly $884,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,186 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FPS with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + FaithFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RunnerLong shot
- + Action RTSLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + DogsLong shot
Comparable games
Counter-Strike 2000 · $51M 
DEATHLOOP 2021 · $36M 
Dishonored 2012 · $20M 
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 2021 · $15M 
Cruelty Squad 2021 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Counter-Strike | older | $9.99 | 169,780 96% | 5.1M | $51M (exactly $50,883,066) | Valve |
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | Dishonored | older | $9.99 | 67,504 97% | 2.0M | $20M (exactly $20,230,949) | Arkane Studios |
| | Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 | older | $39.99 | 12,781 83% | 383k | $15M (exactly $15,333,366) | CI Games |
| | Cruelty Squad | older | $19.99 | 23,209 96% | 696k | $14M (exactly $13,918,437) | Consumer Softproducts |
 | Thief | older | $19.99 | 17,389 75% | 522k | $10M (exactly $10,428,183) | Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac) |
 | Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts | older | $29.99 | 10,966 73% | 329k | $9.9M (exactly $9,866,110) | CI Games |
 | Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™ | older | $29.99 | 9,801 86% | 294k | $8.8M (exactly $8,817,960) | Arkane Studios |
 | Sniper Elite V2 Remastered | older | $34.99 | 3,437 78% | 103k | $3.6M (exactly $3,607,819) | Rebellion |
 | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
 | Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone | · EA | $24.99 | 1,180 78% | 35k | $885k (exactly $884,646) | ANB_Seth |
 | Brush Burial: Gutter World | $9.99 | 838 93% | 25k | $251k (exactly $251,149) | Knife Demon Software | |
 | Oxide Room 208 | $29.99 | 22 31% | 660 | $20k (exactly $19,793) | WildSphere | |
 | Dark Atlas: Infernum | $14.99 | 39 82% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Night Council Studio | |
 | Red Tears: Angola | · EA | $14.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Arun Haines |
 | Kebabstar 🌯⭐ | · EA | $14.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Zeybek |
 | The Shape Killer - Sniper Game | $4.99 | 23 86% | 690 | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) | SouthBoxStudio | |
 | Lightning Katana | $7.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | Juicy Pulp Games | |
 | Pizza at Resort 64 | $2.99 | 16 87% | 480 | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) | Teresina Sun Gameworks | |
 | ShadowStrikeVR | · EA | $9.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Charming Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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