Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Automation Shooter?

Automation + Shooter

Of 35 developers who shipped an Automation 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.. 50 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 26 developers shipped in the last year and 50 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 50 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $359 → $1.3k → $89 → $238 → $1.8k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,372)
Top 5% $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 64
Announced 50
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 500% on the market, supply 190% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Automation, Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Base Building
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 303,608 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $7.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
StarRupture · EA $19.99 12,333 80% 370k $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) Creepy Jar
SimplePlanes 2 · EA $19.99 1,316 92% 39k $789k (exactly $789,205) Jundroo, LLC
Cavalry Girls older $11.99 1,877 88% 56k $675k (exactly $675,157) 中子星游戏研究所
Space Trash Scavenger $19.99 512 82% 15k $307k (exactly $307,046) SquarePlay Games
[ECHOSTASIS] older $19.99 215 90% 6.5k $129k (exactly $128,935) ENIGMA STUDIO
Immortal Seeker older $6.99 537 60% 16k $113k (exactly $112,609) Ilogin Studio
Astrodle older $5.99 226 88% 6.8k $41k (exactly $40,612) Robin Nicolet
Trashed · EA older $9.99 129 41% 3.9k $39k (exactly $38,661) Josh Presseisen
Erotic Clicker $5.99 141 71% 4.2k $25k (exactly $25,338) Ero Echo Studio
Mining Wizards $4.99 116 78% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) TMA Forge
Farming Incremental But With Guns $3.99 113 88% 3.4k $14k (exactly $13,526) Clementine Wolf Games
Schedule Store Simulator · EA $14.99 28 92% 840 $13k (exactly $12,592) Alkame Games
Around The Core $3.99 95 86% 2.9k $11k (exactly $11,372) draftentropy
BBS (Bulletin Board System) Magica $9.99 15 86% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) ねむねむおかき

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