Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + Cyberpunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cyberpunk Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + Cyberpunk

Of 133 developers who shipped a Cyberpunk Bullet Hell 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.. 196 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $660, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×281 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 196 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 196 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + Cyberpunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 133
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.6k → $3.2k → $899 → $300 → $3.1k → $599 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + Cyberpunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 133
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $657 (exactly $657)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,755)
Top 5% $176k (exactly $176,356)
Developers, 2 yr 133
Released games 327
Announced 196
Effort 5 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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 Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Cyberpunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Bullet Hell; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 8,023 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $660, 1 in 4 over $5.7k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 196 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SuperheroStrong odds11 devs · median $3.4k · 7 announced
  2. + FaithFair26 devs · median $17k · 29 announced
  3. + VampiresFair43 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  4. + Creature CollectorFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  5. + Strategy RPGFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  6. + PiratesFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 20 announced
  7. + CatsFair44 devs · median $1.7k · 59 announced
  8. + HackingFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 17 announced
  9. + Time ManagementFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair24 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  11. + DemonsFair101 devs · median $1.2k · 125 announced
  12. + Naval CombatFair14 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced

All 185 pairs on the Bullet Hell page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M Furi 2016 · $6.7M SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M Pistol Whip 2019 · $3.2M UBERMOSH 2015 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
Furi older $19.99 11,246 90% 337k $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) The Game Bakers
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising older $19.99 10,111 94% 303k $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) Flow Fire Games
Pistol Whip older $29.99 3,586 94% 108k $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) Cloudhead Games Ltd.
UBERMOSH older $4.99 8,757 92% 263k $1.3M (exactly $1,310,923) Walter Machado
COMPOUND older $19.99 2,057 97% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,233,583) Bevan McKechnie
Neon Abyss 2 · EA $19.99 1,968 68% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) Veewo Games
Nex Machina older $19.99 1,467 89% 44k $880k (exactly $879,760) Housemarque
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
LIBERATED older $19.99 679 77% 20k $407k (exactly $407,196) Atomic Wolf, L.INC
Ascend to ZERO $11.99 867 82% 26k $312k (exactly $311,860) Flyway Games, Inc.
Whisker Squadron: Survivor $19.99 485 77% 15k $291k (exactly $290,854) Flippfly LLC
RAM: Random Access Mayhem $14.99 611 97% 18k $275k (exactly $274,767) Xylem Studios
Sodaman $7.99 738 78% 22k $177k (exactly $176,899) Tape Corps
Dark Light: Survivor · EA $16.99 346 75% 10k $176k (exactly $176,356) Mirari&Co.
Net.Attack() - Code or Die! $7.99 510 80% 15k $122k (exactly $122,247) ByteRockers' Games
Cyberwar: Neon City · EA $17.99 171 90% 5.1k $92k (exactly $92,289) Cyber Monkey Studios
BIRDCAGE $13.99 218 97% 6.5k $91k (exactly $91,495) POLYGON BIRD

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