Games › Music-Based Procedural Generation › Music-Based Procedural Generation + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Music-Based Procedural Generation Bullet Hell?
Music-Based Procedural Generation + Bullet Hell
Of 20 developers who shipped a Music-Based Procedural Generation 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.. 14 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $31k, ×67 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 14 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $358 (exactly $358) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 5% | $32k (exactly $31,768) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 14 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Music-Based Procedural Generation
- 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
- Music-Based Procedural Generation, Bullet Hell; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Rhythm, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Psychedelic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 299 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Music-Based Procedural Generation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + FantasyFair
- + MusicFair
- + RhythmLong shot
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + PuzzlePoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Beat Hazard | older | $9.99 | 5,072 95% | 152k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) | Cold Beam Games |
| | Beat Hazard 2 | older | $18.99 | 1,396 89% | 42k | $795k (exactly $795,301) | Cold Beam Games |
| | QUICKERFLAK | older | $4.99 | 2,819 87% | 85k | $422k (exactly $422,004) | Walter Machado |
| | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
| | Soundodger+ | older | $7.99 | 676 90% | 20k | $162k (exactly $162,037) | Studio Bean |
| | Symphony | older | $4.99 | 833 86% | 25k | $125k (exactly $124,700) | Empty Clip Studios |
| | The Polynomial - Space of the music | older | $6.99 | 448 72% | 13k | $94k (exactly $93,946) | Dmytry Lavrov |
| | Ira | older | $19.99 | 140 75% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | ABShot |
| | Hyperspace Invaders II: Pixel Edition | older | $4.99 | 326 82% | 9.8k | $49k (exactly $48,802) | Entity Medialab |
| | Kill The Music | $9.99 | 106 96% | 3.2k | $32k (exactly $31,768) | Nikko Nikko | |
| | Rhythm Storm | $9.99 | 86 91% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $25,774) | Radiangames | |
| | HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Gameinaframe | |
| | Beats Of Fury | $9.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Bubble Head Games | |
| | PopSlinger Vol. 2 - Loveless | $14.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Funky Can Creative | |
| | Tied to the Beat | · EA | $4.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | Javier Lianes García |
| | Symphorix | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | OnTriggerJoy |
| | Carnival Survivors The Parade | $4.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Enchant Games | |
| | BeatHero | $6.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $839 (exactly $839) | Rainboar Studios | |
| | Mandala | $1.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $358 (exactly $358) | Divora |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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