Do I ship it?

Games › Boomer Shooter › Boomer Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Boomer Shooter?

Boomer Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 79 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 61 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $390 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 44 developers shipped in the last year and 61 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 61 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Boomer Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 79
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $449 → $298 → $1.3k → $179 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Boomer Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 79
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $390 (exactly $390)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,116)
Top 5% $311k (exactly $310,645)
Developers, 2 yr 79
Released games 130
Announced 61
Effort 5 / 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 30% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Boomer Shooter, Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, 1990's
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 6,108 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $390, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $310k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Boomer Shooter with a different second tag, 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

POSTAL: Brain Damaged 2022 · $5.7M Project Warlock 2018 · $1.7M The Citadel 2020 · $1.2M ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M Bloodshed 2025 · $711k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
POSTAL: Brain Damaged older $19.99 9,565 95% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,736,130) Hyperstrange, CreativeForge Games
Project Warlock older $12.00 4,691 87% 141k $1.7M (exactly $1,688,760) Buckshot Software
The Citadel older $14.99 2,621 93% 79k $1.2M (exactly $1,178,664) doekuramori, Top Hat Studios Inc
ROBOBEAT older $19.99 1,708 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) Simon Fredholm
Bloodshed $12.99 1,824 84% 55k $711k (exactly $710,813) com8com1 Software
CRUEL $9.99 1,814 95% 54k $544k (exactly $543,656) James Dornan
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
Don't Stop, Girlypop! $19.99 518 83% 16k $311k (exactly $310,645) Funny Fintan Softworks
Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster $29.99 230 93% 6.9k $207k (exactly $206,931) LucasArts, Nightdive Studios
Neckbreak older $15.99 415 79% 12k $199k (exactly $199,076) MGP Studios, Solid9 Studio
Shooty Shooty Robot Invasion $9.99 353 93% 11k $106k (exactly $105,794) Bubby Darkstar
Future Knight $14.99 115 98% 3.5k $52k (exactly $51,716) Studio Koba, Aeternum Game Studios
METAL SUITS: Counter-attack $9.99 71 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $21,279) Gonggamore Contents
ODDRooM $14.99 26 96% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) TEAM ODD
CPU Invaders - 3i Atlas $4.99 77 98% 2.3k $12k (exactly $11,527) Microblast Games

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