Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Heaven › Bullet Heaven + Fantasy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Fantasy Bullet Heaven?

Bullet Heaven + Fantasy

Of 106 developers who shipped a Fantasy 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.. 164 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×7.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×300 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 164 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 164 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Heaven + Fantasy
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: $16k → $99k → $96k → $19k → $60k → $20k → $3.3k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Heaven + Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 106
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.4k (exactly $3,356)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $25,158)
Top 5% $142k (exactly $142,358)
Developers, 2 yr 106
Released games 135
Announced 164
Effort 4 / 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 95% on the market, supply 280% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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.

Bullet Heaven
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Fantasy
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; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 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 $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 44,127 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.4k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 164 games are announced against 84 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 Death Must Die 2023 · EA · $4.4M Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos 2026 · $2.4M Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok 2024 · $1.9M God Of Weapons 2023 · $864k
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
Death Must Die · EA older $6.99 20,937 90% 628k $4.4M (exactly $4,390,489) Realm Archive
Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos $12.99 6,281 68% 188k $2.4M (exactly $2,447,706) NANOO
Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok older $9.99 6,180 88% 185k $1.9M (exactly $1,852,146) Noxfall Studios
God Of Weapons older $5.99 4,807 84% 144k $864k (exactly $863,818) Imagine Games
Conquest Dark · EA $9.99 2,530 89% 76k $758k (exactly $758,241) Eldritch Sword Games
Be My Horde · EA older $9.99 2,052 85% 62k $615k (exactly $614,984) Polished Games
Bounty of One older $6.99 2,749 88% 82k $576k (exactly $576,465) OptizOnion
Spell Disk older $14.99 965 89% 29k $434k (exactly $433,960) Sunpeak Games
Spirit Hunters: Infinite Horde older $7.99 1,541 78% 46k $369k (exactly $369,378) Creature Cauldron
Crafty Survivors $11.99 712 83% 21k $256k (exactly $256,106) Flannel Bear Games
Desktop Survivors 98 $4.99 1,338 94% 40k $200k (exactly $200,299) Brandon Hesslau
Trials Survivors · EA $9.99 475 85% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Angry wisp
Keeper's Toll $6.99 668 88% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Stingbot Games
Blood Dungeon $9.99 453 89% 14k $136k (exactly $135,764) Messhof
Machick 2 $6.99 606 88% 18k $127k (exactly $127,078) DeadPixel
Hand of Fate: Hordes · EA $11.99 312 79% 9.4k $112k (exactly $112,226) Spitfire Interactive

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