Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Shooter?

Shooter + Building

Of 106 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 238 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2442 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 238 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 238 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 106
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.0k → $2.1k → $446 → $1.8k → $1.8k → $4.1k (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 106
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,439)
Top 25% $32k (exactly $31,566)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865)
Developers, 2 yr 106
Released games 354
Announced 238
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 125% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Shooter, Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Action, Base Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 380,787 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $31k, 1 in 20 over $1.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 238 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rust 2018 · $1.4B Garry's Mod 2006 · $328M Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M Slime Rancher 2 2025 · $39M Hurtworld 2019 · $18M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rust older $39.99 1,167,920 87% 35M $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) Facepunch Studios
Garry's Mod older $9.99 1,093,131 96% 33M $328M (exactly $327,611,361) Facepunch Studios
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Slime Rancher 2 $29.99 43,590 94% 1.3M $39M (exactly $39,217,923) Monomi Park
Hurtworld older $24.99 23,631 76% 709k $18M (exactly $17,716,161) Bankroll Studios
Myth of Empires older $29.99 15,520 68% 466k $14M (exactly $13,963,344) Angela Game
Fallout 4 VR older $59.99 5,620 61% 169k $10M (exactly $10,114,314) Bethesda Game Studios
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
The Front $19.99 9,555 66% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) Samar Studio
Subsistence · EA older $13.99 12,459 72% 374k $5.2M (exactly $5,229,042) ColdGames
Longvinter $19.99 6,951 68% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) Uuvana Studios
s&box $9.99 5,118 46% 154k $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) Facepunch Studios
The Walking Trade $11.99 2,733 86% 82k $983k (exactly $983,060) Microwave Games
SimplePlanes 2 · EA $19.99 1,316 92% 39k $789k (exactly $789,205) Jundroo, LLC
Vietnam War · EA $14.99 1,704 84% 51k $766k (exactly $766,289) Thorium Game Lab
Human Host · EA $16.88 866 83% 26k $439k (exactly $438,542) Virtual Matrix Studio

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