Do I ship it?

Games › Destruction › Destruction + Bullet Hell

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Hell Destruction game?

Destruction + Bullet Hell

Of 58 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Destruction game 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.. 100 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×571 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 100 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 100 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + Bullet Hell
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 58
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $1.8k → $8.1k → $839 → $2.1k → $3.0k → $240 (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + Bullet Hell: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 58
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $5.1k (exactly $5,095)
Top 5% $359k (exactly $358,524)
Developers, 2 yr 58
Released games 175
Announced 100
Effort 6 / 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 flat on the market, supply 40% 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction, Bullet Hell; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 6,110 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $960, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $350k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Destruction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

VOID/BREAKER 2025 · EA · $2.3M Astebreed: Definitive Edition 2014 · $763k Angel at Dusk 2024 · $754k Chippy 2019 · $490k Planes, Bullets and Vodka 2016 · $425k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
VOID/BREAKER · EA $29.99 2,506 91% 75k $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) Stubby Games
Astebreed: Definitive Edition older $19.99 1,272 87% 38k $763k (exactly $762,818) Edelweiss
Angel at Dusk older $14.99 1,676 98% 50k $754k (exactly $753,697) Akiragoya
Chippy older $14.99 1,089 90% 33k $490k (exactly $489,723) Facepunch Studios
Planes, Bullets and Vodka older $4.99 2,840 84% 85k $425k (exactly $425,148) NukGames
Sektori $14.99 897 96% 27k $403k (exactly $403,381) Kimmo Lahtinen
Galactic Glitch $12.99 920 89% 28k $359k (exactly $358,524) Crunchy Leaf Games
Doomsday Hunters older $15.99 703 89% 21k $337k (exactly $337,229) Moregames
Beach Invasion 1944 older $9.99 1,038 84% 31k $311k (exactly $311,089) AIx2 Games
Disassembly 3D older $29.99 309 81% 9.3k $278k (exactly $278,007) Khor Chin Heong
MYRIAD DEATH $8.99 274 85% 8.2k $74k (exactly $73,898) IGNITION M, Clover Lab.,inc.
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Nebulock $2.99 583 86% 17k $52k (exactly $52,295) LostVolBytes
Planet Killer $12.99 94 79% 2.8k $37k (exactly $36,632) Talisman One Studio
Disaster Arms - Impact Project B.A.H.N. $9.99 57 100% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) PD_CGT
Chaos on Wheels $9.99 34 67% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) Acodeon Development
Dungeons & Drivers $9.99 26 84% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Digital Synapsis

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