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Should I ship a Rhythm Bullet Hell?
Bullet Hell + Rhythm
Of 44 developers who shipped a Rhythm 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.. 77 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 23 developers shipped in the last year and 77 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $416 (exactly $416) |
| Top 25% | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 5% | $57k (exactly $56,662) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 159 |
| Announced | 77 |
| Effort | 3 / 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 45% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Rhythm
- effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Bullet Hell, Rhythm; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,512 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
Just Shapes & Beats 2018 · $14M 
BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE 2020 · $5.8M 
Everhood 2021 · $3.4M 
Pistol Whip 2019 · $3.2M 
Beat Hazard 2010 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Just Shapes & Beats | older | $19.99 | 24,041 97% | 721k | $14M (exactly $14,417,388) | Berzerk Studio |
| | BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE | older | $19.99 | 9,598 91% | 288k | $5.8M (exactly $5,755,921) | Awe Interactive |
| | Everhood | older | $9.99 | 11,436 95% | 343k | $3.4M (exactly $3,427,369) | Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca |
| | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
| | Beat Hazard | older | $9.99 | 5,072 95% | 152k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost | older | $19.99 | 2,266 81% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,358,920) | Alliance Arts, UnknownX |
 | Afterbeat (Project Arrhythmia) | · EA older | $14.99 | 2,452 95% | 74k | $1.1M (exactly $1,102,664) | Vitamin Games |
 | Beat Hazard 2 | older | $18.99 | 1,396 89% | 42k | $795k (exactly $795,301) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Yoiyami Dancers: Twilight Danmaku Dancers | older | $9.99 | 641 98% | 19k | $192k (exactly $192,108) | tripper_room, 以絵会友(ikaikaiyuu) |
 | Archons | $9.99 | 406 92% | 12k | $122k (exactly $121,678) | BulletHell Studios | |
 | Rhythm Witch: Beat Death | $5.99 | 508 94% | 15k | $91k (exactly $91,288) | Dusklight CO., LTD. | |
 | Asterika: Phantom Rose Refrain | $14.99 | 126 95% | 3.8k | $57k (exactly $56,662) | makaroll | |
 | MoriyaRhythm | $6.99 | 167 91% | 5.0k | $35k (exactly $35,020) | FriendNavy | |
 | 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 | |
 | COLD VR | $19.99 | 28 60% | 840 | $17k (exactly $16,792) | ALLWARE LLC | |
 | HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Gameinaframe | |
 | Keytamine | $7.99 | 38 81% | 1.1k | $9.1k (exactly $9,109) | Nabokov | |
 | Beats Of Fury | $9.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Bubble Head Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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