Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Bullet Hell?
Bullet Hell + Perma Death
Of 162 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 229 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $47k, ×100 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 229 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Top 25% | $4.6k (exactly $4,641) |
| Top 5% | $47k (exactly $47,461) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 162 |
| Released games | 456 |
| Announced | 229 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Bullet Hell, Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action Roguelike, Action, Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,619 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 93 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 229 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Bullet Hell with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SuperheroStrong odds
- + FaithFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + PiratesFair
- + CatsFair
- + HackingFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Naval CombatFair
Comparable games
Roboquest 2023 · $14M 
Crab Champions 2023 · EA · $8.0M 
The Binding of Isaac 2011 · $7.4M 
Nuclear Throne 2015 · $5.4M 
Dead Estate 2021 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
| | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
| | The Binding of Isaac | older | $4.99 | 49,208 94% | 1.5M | $7.4M (exactly $7,366,438) | Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl |
| | Nuclear Throne | older | $11.99 | 15,047 96% | 451k | $5.4M (exactly $5,412,406) | Vlambeer |
| | Dead Estate | older | $14.99 | 5,778 95% | 173k | $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) | Milkbar Lads |
 | Atomicrops | older | $14.99 | 5,134 93% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) | Bird Bath Games |
 | Battle Ram | older | $29.99 | 2,204 85% | 66k | $2.0M (exactly $1,982,939) | Runic Rise Games |
 | Star of Providence | older | $14.99 | 3,178 96% | 95k | $1.4M (exactly $1,429,147) | Team D-13 |
 | ScourgeBringer | older | $16.99 | 2,642 87% | 79k | $1.3M (exactly $1,346,627) | Flying Oak Games, E-Studio |
 | Immortal Redneck | older | $19.95 | 2,211 90% | 66k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,284) | Crema |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | ODDCORE | · EA | $12.99 | 1,080 96% | 32k | $421k (exactly $420,876) | ODDCORP |
 | Ascend to ZERO | $11.99 | 867 82% | 26k | $312k (exactly $311,860) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
 | Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. | $8.99 | 438 70% | 13k | $118k (exactly $118,129) | STUDIO POCO | |
 | Ancient Cultivatrix | $8.99 | 240 67% | 7.2k | $65k (exactly $64,728) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
 | Ogre Chambers 2222 | $7.99 | 254 96% | 7.6k | $61k (exactly $60,884) | ANTENNA GAMES | |
 | Schism | $11.99 | 140 96% | 4.2k | $50k (exactly $50,358) | Fami | |
 | Slimekeep | $14.99 | 109 87% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | BenBonk | |
 | Raining Blood: Hellfire | $7.99 | 198 89% | 5.9k | $47k (exactly $47,461) | TechBooh | |
 | Identifile: Desktop Dungeon | · EA | $9.99 | 148 91% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $44,356) | Gearbyte Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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