Do I ship it?

GamesCraftingCrafting + Bullet Heaven

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Bullet Heaven?

Crafting + Bullet Heaven

Of 20 developers who shipped a Crafting Bullet Heaven 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.. 25 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $44k, ×70 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $11M, ×18438 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 69.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Bullet Heaven
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $512k → $1.3M → $2.5k (still earning) → $44k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Crafting + Bullet Heaven: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $2.5k (exactly $2,514)
Median $44k (exactly $43,867)
Top 25% $519k (exactly $519,080)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,579,325)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 26
Announced 25
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $12.99

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 85% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Crafting
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Bullet Heaven
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
Crafting, Bullet Heaven; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 59,399 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.6k, median $44k, 1 in 4 over $510k, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. None of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced
  12. + Co-opPoor odds208 devs · median $38k · 576 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Crafty Survivors $11.99 712 83% 21k $256k (exactly $256,106) Flannel Bear Games
Soulbound: Online · EA $14.99 562 58% 17k $253k (exactly $252,731) SpiderWare
MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE older $19.99 253 93% 7.6k $152k (exactly $151,724) Terrible Posture Games
Machick 2 $6.99 606 88% 18k $127k (exactly $127,078) DeadPixel
ArmorSim · EA $18.99 77 57% 2.3k $44k (exactly $43,867) Timerlan Galimov

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