Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Automation game?

Automation + Top-Down Shooter

Only 10 developers shipped a Top-Down Shooter Automation game 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, Bioweaver, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 22 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 22 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $150 → $8.1k → $299 (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $299 (exactly $299)
Top 5% $140k (exactly $140,080)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 27
Announced 22
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 300% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 7 games average 77% positive over 691 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $240, 1 in 4 over $290, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 22 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

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
Taur older $24.99 2,011 79% 60k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) Echo Entertainment
Cavalry Girls older $11.99 1,877 88% 56k $675k (exactly $675,157) 中子星游戏研究所
Bioweaver $6.99 668 77% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games
Immortal Seeker older $6.99 537 60% 16k $113k (exactly $112,609) Ilogin Studio
Trashed · EA older $9.99 129 41% 3.9k $39k (exactly $38,661) Josh Presseisen
Dead Unending older $9.99 108 41% 3.2k $32k (exactly $32,368) Tyler Hudson
Morbid Inhale older $9.99 27 81% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Vokeev
BBS (Bulletin Board System) Magica $9.99 15 86% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) ねむねむおかき
泉水镇·居民的反击💩 older $5.99 7 71% 210 $1.3k (exactly $1,258) 黑之翅膀, HZ·Game
Shape Survivor 图形幸存者 · EA older $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) Light Studio
Divine Orbit $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Jason Bann
SideDrop $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) SirTotti
Sidebar Starship $3.99 2 50% 60 $239 (exactly $239) 初心者工作室
TechWorld $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) KTGAMES
Electrocute Skeeter $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) FU XINYU
Journey of Harvest $8.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) GFXR2048
BreakDespair2D $3.24 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) HappyLuckyRainbowGames
A Game About Leading A Crowds $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Jacobdev

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