Do I ship it?

GamesAuto BattlerAuto Battler + Bullet Hell

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Bullet Hell?

Auto Battler + Bullet Hell

Of 70 developers who shipped an Auto Battler Bullet Hell 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.. 68 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $64k, ×136 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 68 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 68 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Auto Battler + Bullet Hell
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.9k → $2.3k → $6.9k → $1.6k → $7.5k → $839 → $538 (still earning) → $598 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Auto Battler + Bullet Hell: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $238 (exactly $238)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 5% $64k (exactly $64,494)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 128
Announced 68
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 40% on the market, supply 210% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Auto Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Auto Battler, Bullet Hell; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Action, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,257 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $630, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + ProgrammingFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonFair17 devs · median $13k · 16 announced
  3. + AutomationFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  4. + Action RTSFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  5. + SimulationFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  6. + EconomyFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  7. + SandboxFair45 devs · median $1.9k · 42 announced
  8. + CyberpunkFair20 devs · median $1.7k · 25 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair23 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  10. + CatsFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 14 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair78 devs · median $1.1k · 93 announced
  12. + SwordplayFair13 devs · median $1.1k · 8 announced

All 119 pairs on the Auto Battler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Be My Horde · EA older $9.99 2,052 85% 62k $615k (exactly $614,984) Polished Games
Nomad Survival older $4.99 1,517 87% 46k $227k (exactly $227,095) The Fox Knocks
Seer's Gambit $14.99 490 76% 15k $220k (exactly $220,353) Unleash The Giraffe
Godslayer Arena · EA $14.99 257 76% 7.7k $116k (exactly $115,573) Hippo Rider Games
Infinite Tao older $3.99 852 79% 26k $102k (exactly $101,984) insomnia
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Towerful Defense: A Rogue TD older $9.99 209 70% 6.3k $63k (exactly $62,637) Mini Fun Games
最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect older $3.99 504 53% 15k $60k (exactly $60,329) 栖鸾工作室
This Isn't Just Tower Defense $6.99 122 61% 3.7k $26k (exactly $25,583) Pri Games
Wandness: WandCraft Survivor $6.99 107 74% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,438) Knight Owl Games, Binary Lunar
Ballatory $7.99 82 78% 2.5k $20k (exactly $19,655) Mini Fun Games
Increbraintal $2.99 174 82% 5.2k $16k (exactly $15,608) Hymoori
Endless waves survival $1.99 202 79% 6.1k $12k (exactly $12,059) Jeferson Belmiro
Fight To The Death $2.99 113 76% 3.4k $10k (exactly $10,136) Amrita

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