Games › Metroidvania › Metroidvania + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Bullet Hell Metroidvania?
Metroidvania + Bullet Hell
Only 19 developers shipped a Bullet Hell Metroidvania in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Key Fairy, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 48 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $37k, ×78 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 48 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 5% | $37k (exactly $37,181) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 74 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.00 |
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 35% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Metroidvania, Bullet Hell; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action-Adventure, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.00 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.00.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 333 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Metroidvania with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ParkourPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + VampiresPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
Comparable games
Touhou Luna Nights 2019 · $7.4M 
Rabi-Ribi 2016 · $5.8M 
Minishoot' Adventures 2024 · $3.5M 
TEVI 2023 · $3.2M 
Dungreed 2018 · $2.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Touhou Luna Nights | older | $17.99 | 13,776 97% | 413k | $7.4M (exactly $7,434,907) | Team Ladybug, WSS playground |
| | Rabi-Ribi | older | $17.99 | 10,768 95% | 323k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,490) | CreSpirit, GemaYue |
| | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
| | TEVI | older | $29.99 | 3,580 88% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,220,926) | CreSpirit, GemaYue, Ein Lee |
| | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
 | Gensokyo Night Festival | · EA older | $12.99 | 4,497 69% | 135k | $1.8M (exactly $1,752,481) | WSS playground, tea_basira |
 | ScourgeBringer | older | $16.99 | 2,642 87% | 79k | $1.3M (exactly $1,346,627) | Flying Oak Games, E-Studio |
 | Patch Quest | older | $14.99 | 2,058 94% | 62k | $925k (exactly $925,483) | Lychee Game Labs |
 | Wings of Vi | older | $14.99 | 955 83% | 29k | $429k (exactly $429,464) | Grynsoft |
 | Glimmer in Mirror | · EA older | $16.99 | 758 75% | 23k | $386k (exactly $386,353) | MapleDorm Games |
 | Key Fairy | $19.99 | 62 100% | 1.9k | $37k (exactly $37,181) | Owl Machine | |
 | Magical Blush | $14.99 | 58 94% | 1.7k | $26k (exactly $26,083) | Alkacer Game Studio | |
 | Rhya's Crusade: The Aradia's Reavers | $14.99 | 39 66% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Black Fortress Games | |
 | NBB.EXE | $19.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $11k (exactly $10,795) | Raptus Games | |
 | Quetzal's Call | $9.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | tissue inu | |
 | Dark Sword: The Light of Ainn | $3.99 | 63 93% | 1.9k | $7.5k (exactly $7,541) | MrDoth | |
 | Bloom Thrice | $9.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | NEO*PUN | |
 | HeroSquare | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Akseli Virtanen | |
 | Crab Attack | $11.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Crab Attack Games | |
 | Nauts | $8.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Jorge A. García González, Carlos Álvare… (Jorge A. García González, Carlos Álvarez-Nava González) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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