Games › Loot › Loot + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Loot Bullet Hell?
Loot + Bullet Hell
Of 134 developers who shipped a Loot 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.. 236 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1155 the market median. Revenue is up 225% on the market; 236 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,438) |
| Top 5% | $725k (exactly $725,242) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 134 |
| Released games | 249 |
| Announced | 236 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 225% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot, Bullet Hell; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 135,667 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Risk of Rain 2 2020 · $180M 
Enter the Gungeon 2016 · $36M 
Megabonk 2025 · $30M 
Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M 
Deadzone: Rogue 2025 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Risk of Rain 2 | older | $24.99 | 240,001 93% | 7.2M | $180M (exactly $179,928,750) | Hopoo Games |
| | Enter the Gungeon | older | $14.99 | 79,392 95% | 2.4M | $36M (exactly $35,702,582) | Dodge Roll |
| | Megabonk | $9.99 | 100,202 94% | 3.0M | $30M (exactly $30,030,539) | vedinad | |
| | Neon Abyss | older | $31.49 | 19,709 86% | 591k | $19M (exactly $18,619,092) | Veewo Games |
| | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | Hero Siege | older | $7.99 | 36,844 67% | 1.1M | $8.8M (exactly $8,831,507) | Panic Art Studios Ltd |
 | Rabbit and Steel | older | $14.99 | 10,159 96% | 305k | $4.6M (exactly $4,568,502) | mino_dev |
 | Death Must Die | · EA older | $6.99 | 20,937 90% | 628k | $4.4M (exactly $4,390,489) | Realm Archive |
 | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
 | Killsquad | older | $29.99 | 2,839 71% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) | Novarama |
 | Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos | $12.99 | 6,281 68% | 188k | $2.4M (exactly $2,447,706) | NANOO | |
 | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | Neon Abyss 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,968 68% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) | Veewo Games |
 | GOD FORSAKEN | $13.99 | 1,728 67% | 52k | $725k (exactly $725,242) | insight studio | |
 | Relic Hunters Legend | $19.99 | 1,101 65% | 33k | $660k (exactly $660,270) | Rogue Snail | |
 | I Am Legion: Stand Survivors | $8.99 | 2,432 82% | 73k | $656k (exactly $655,910) | JA Game Studio | |
 | Grind Survivors | $12.99 | 1,332 69% | 40k | $519k (exactly $519,080) | Pushka Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.