Do I ship it?

GamesBoomer ShooterBoomer Shooter + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Boomer Shooter?

Boomer Shooter + Horror

Of 99 developers who shipped a Horror Boomer 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.. 124 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $640k, ×1030 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 124 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 124 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Boomer Shooter + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 99
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $191k → $31k → $5.7k → $5.5k → $899 → $2.1k → $1.7k (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Boomer Shooter + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 99
Bottom 30% $450 (exactly $450)
Median $2.6k (exactly $2,633)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $27,343)
Top 5% $647k (exactly $646,884)
Developers, 2 yr 99
Released games 182
Announced 124
Effort 5 / 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 flat on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Boomer Shooter
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Boomer Shooter; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry FPS, Action, Shooter
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Retro, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 14,978 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.6k, 1 in 4 over $27k, 1 in 20 over $640k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 124 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Boomer Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Co-opFair16 devs · median $6.9k · 24 announced
  2. + WarFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 22 announced
  3. + DemonsFair51 devs · median $3.6k · 56 announced
  4. + Bullet TimeFair30 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  5. + Psychological HorrorFair24 devs · median $1.3k · 29 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair50 devs · median $659 · 47 announced
  7. + Bullet HellFair109 devs · median $599 · 77 announced
  8. + SpaceFair39 devs · median $539 · 43 announced
  9. + Survival HorrorFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + SurvivalLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  11. + Hero ShooterLong shot30 devs · median $210 · 21 announced
  12. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds36 devs · median $12k · 52 announced

All 61 pairs on the Boomer Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DOOM Eternal older $29.99 187,483 91% 5.6M $169M (exactly $168,678,455) id Software
DOOM older $19.99 155,340 95% 4.7M $93M (exactly $93,157,398) id Software
Trepang2 older $39.99 15,774 93% 473k $19M (exactly $18,924,068) Trepang Studios
DUSK older $19.99 22,073 97% 662k $13M (exactly $13,237,178) David Szymanski
POSTAL: Brain Damaged older $19.99 9,565 95% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,736,130) Hyperstrange, CreativeForge Games
Mortal Sin $24.99 5,583 94% 167k $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) Nikola Todorovic
Quake older $9.99 13,962 96% 419k $4.2M (exactly $4,184,411) id Software, Nightdive Studios, Machine… (id Software, Nightdive Studios, MachineGames)
Prodeus older $24.99 5,505 92% 165k $4.1M (exactly $4,127,098) Bounding Box Software Inc.
HROT older $19.99 5,299 96% 159k $3.2M (exactly $3,177,810) Spytihněv
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem older $19.99 4,723 92% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,832,383) Croteam, Timelock Studio
Painkiller $39.99 1,091 54% 33k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,873) Anshar Studios
Forgive Me Father 2 $24.99 1,500 81% 45k $1.1M (exactly $1,124,550) Byte Barrel
Luna Abyss $29.99 923 86% 28k $830k (exactly $830,423) Kwalee Labs
Blood: Refreshed Supply™ $29.99 719 71% 22k $647k (exactly $646,884) Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions
Moros Protocol $24.99 731 81% 22k $548k (exactly $548,031) Pixel Reign
CRUEL $9.99 1,814 95% 54k $544k (exactly $543,656) James Dornan
INCISION $14.99 997 85% 30k $448k (exactly $448,351) SmoothBrainDev
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
Viscerafest $19.99 540 87% 16k $324k (exactly $323,838) Acid Man Games, Fire Plant Games

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