Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Heaven › Bullet Heaven + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Bullet Heaven?

Bullet Heaven + Futuristic

Of 24 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper, while revenue is down 95% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 56 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Heaven + Futuristic
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: $178 → $2.4k (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Heaven + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,394)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $24,100)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 33
Announced 56
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 95% on the market, supply 400% 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
Futuristic
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; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 608 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $24k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 56 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

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

Picayune Dreams 2023 · $623k MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE 2022 · $152k Syder Arcade 2013 · $135k Ketz: Galactic Overlords 2025 · EA · $104k Gunlocked 2022 · $69k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Picayune Dreams older $4.99 4,164 98% 125k $623k (exactly $623,351) Stepford, Andyland, milkypossum
MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE older $19.99 253 93% 7.6k $152k (exactly $151,724) Terrible Posture Games
Syder Arcade older $9.99 451 84% 14k $135k (exactly $135,165) Studio Evil
Ketz: Galactic Overlords · EA $8.99 386 71% 12k $104k (exactly $104,104) Keep Games
Gunlocked older $4.99 463 87% 14k $69k (exactly $69,311) FromLefcourt
Gunlocked 2 $11.99 67 80% 2.0k $24k (exactly $24,100) FromLefcourt
Terralysia · EA $11.99 52 69% 1.6k $19k (exactly $18,704) Tiny Game Dev
Symmodance older $3.99 73 82% 2.2k $8.7k (exactly $8,738) Melih Solt
Spelp older $4.99 56 89% 1.7k $8.4k (exactly $8,383) Yawee
Cosmic Run $10.99 23 69% 690 $7.6k (exactly $7,583) Zinktank Labs
Seven Suns of Orion $4.99 22 100% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) FerroFerrous
Neon Pulsefire $3.99 20 95% 600 $2.4k (exactly $2,394) Marian Kunz
Hex Core $4.99 12 83% 360 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) Serious Penguin Studios Inc.
CoreBreaker: Desktop Swarm $3.99 14 92% 420 $1.7k (exactly $1,676) Furistic
NERMIUS $5.00 8 100% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,200) Saturn アクメ Corp.
Space Show edition 17 $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Vercin Games

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