Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Heaven › Bullet Heaven + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Bullet Heaven?

Bullet Heaven + Demons

Of 24 developers who shipped a Demon 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.. 38 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×1093 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 38 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 38 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Heaven + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $47k → $3.6k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Heaven + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,676)
Top 25% $47k (exactly $47,461)
Top 5% $519k (exactly $519,080)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 27
Announced 38
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 100% on the market, supply 400% more developers than the period before.

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.

Bullet Heaven
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Bullet Heaven; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 34,564 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $47k, 1 in 20 over $510k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 38 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Bullet Heaven with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Online Co-OpStrong odds27 devs · median $9.3k · 38 announced
  2. + Class-BasedFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 38 announced
  3. + CraftingPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  4. + Dungeon CrawlerPoor odds19 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  5. + Action RPGPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced
  6. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds21 devs · median $17k · 53 announced
  7. + LootPoor odds54 devs · median $14k · 100 announced
  8. + Tower DefensePoor odds29 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  9. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds51 devs · median $11k · 57 announced
  10. + ZombiesPoor odds22 devs · median $11k · 40 announced
  11. + RPGPoor odds120 devs · median $9.3k · 156 announced
  12. + Hack and SlashPoor odds70 devs · median $8.3k · 97 announced

All 48 pairs on the Bullet Heaven page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Halls of Torment 2024 · $6.1M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Grind Survivors 2026 · $519k Shadow Dungeon 2026 · $416k Scarlet Tower 2024 · $384k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Shadow Dungeon $9.99 1,387 78% 42k $416k (exactly $415,684) OO Cat
Scarlet Tower older $6.99 1,831 81% 55k $384k (exactly $383,961) Pyxeralia LLC
Demon Hunt · EA $6.99 460 77% 14k $96k (exactly $96,462) Massive Hug
Flock of the Seraphim $9.99 162 85% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,551) GuuchanDev
Raining Blood: Hellfire $7.99 198 89% 5.9k $47k (exactly $47,461) TechBooh
Devil Jam $7.99 84 69% 2.5k $20k (exactly $20,135) Rogueside
Lichgate: Tower Survivor $6.99 57 75% 1.7k $12k (exactly $11,953) Sun Lion Games
Rogue Samurai $5.99 60 53% 1.8k $11k (exactly $10,782) CO's Entertainment
Letifer $4.99 72 80% 2.2k $11k (exactly $10,778) Third Spirit Games

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