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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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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