Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Shoot 'Em Up?

Building + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 22 developers who shipped a Building Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 22 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $640k, ×1021 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 22 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 22 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Shoot 'Em Up
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: $11k → $2.1k → $599 → $539 → $22k → $628 → $449 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Top 5% $641k (exactly $641,482)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 80
Announced 22
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 65% on the market, supply 75% 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.

Building
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
Building, Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 26,579 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $640k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer 2025 · $641k Disassembly 3D 2017 · $278k Titan Attacks! 2012 · $196k Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 2025 · $177k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
Disassembly 3D older $29.99 309 81% 9.3k $278k (exactly $278,007) Khor Chin Heong
Titan Attacks! older $9.99 654 92% 20k $196k (exactly $196,004) Puppygames
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
Wee Tanks! older $9.99 548 90% 16k $164k (exactly $164,236) Studio Kit
Disassembly VR older $29.99 157 59% 4.7k $141k (exactly $141,253) Khor Chin Heong
Space Scavenger older $12.99 289 86% 8.7k $113k (exactly $112,623) Red Cabin Games
Captain Forever Remix older $9.99 319 78% 9.6k $96k (exactly $95,604) Pixelsaurus Games, Future Crayon
Zombie Builder Defense 2 older $9.99 210 84% 6.3k $63k (exactly $62,937) Noham Games
Cast Out Colony $9.99 72 91% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,578) Wooshido
Siegecaster $8.99 32 62% 960 $8.6k (exactly $8,630) Half Human Games, Boss Corridor
Chickenauts · EA $5.99 23 60% 690 $4.1k (exactly $4,133) SneakyBox, Kautki Cave
BattleshipCrafting $5.99 10 100% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) 洛米条
Doomsday Tower Defense $15.99 3 33% 90 $1.4k (exactly $1,439) Urban Isotope
The B.L.O.O.M Initiative $2.99 7 100% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Trema-Coding
I Made Myself a Ship $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Draih

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