Do I ship it?

GamesLooter ShooterLooter Shooter + Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Building

Of 22 developers who shipped a Building Looter 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.. 31 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×174 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 31 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 31 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $3.3k → $539 → $5.5k → $2.2k → $219k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,248)
Top 25% $82k (exactly $81,713)
Top 5% $260k (exactly $260,439)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 52
Announced 31
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 90% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Building; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Base Building, Crafting
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,976 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $81k, 1 in 20 over $260k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
DeadPoly · EA older $9.99 5,384 78% 162k $1.6M (exactly $1,613,585) TFL Games
Urge · EA older $17.99 499 90% 15k $269k (exactly $269,310) EnDrew
BULT: Hunting simulator · EA $9.99 869 87% 26k $260k (exactly $260,439) Nordrise
Heat Death: Survival Train · EA $11.99 709 77% 21k $255k (exactly $255,027) Mass Game Devs
Nuclear Epoch $14.99 487 78% 15k $219k (exactly $219,004) Cat Play Studio
Fargone · EA older $11.99 527 70% 16k $190k (exactly $189,562) RedDot Games
Taora : Survival · EA older $13.99 353 55% 11k $148k (exactly $148,154) Tulpar Games
Star Vortex · EA $24.99 154 84% 4.6k $115k (exactly $115,454) Zorg Games
Zombie Survival Game Online · EA older $9.99 276 67% 8.3k $83k (exactly $82,717) Zombie Survival Game Online LLC
Exit Ways · EA $11.69 233 22% 7.0k $82k (exactly $81,713) ASKES
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Raise Your Tribe · EA $9.99 57 52% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Primeval Forest Studios
Polygeddon $2.99 61 40% 1.8k $5.5k (exactly $5,472) Digital Dreamworks, Gamesforfarm
Dustward $14.99 7 42% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) Inonia Games

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