Games › Shooter › Shooter + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Bullet Hell Shooter?
Shooter + Bullet Hell
Of 961 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Shooter 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.. 1,120 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $96k, ×154 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 1,120 games are announced against 551 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) |
| Top 5% | $96k (exactly $96,462) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 961 |
| Released games | 2,911 |
| Announced | 1,120 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 40% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Shooter
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Bullet Hell; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shoot 'Em Up, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 40,806 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 485 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,120 games are announced against 551 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Risk of Rain 2 2020 · $180M 
Enter the Gungeon 2016 · $36M 
Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M 
Roboquest 2023 · $14M 
Returnal™ 2023 · $12M | 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 |
| | Neon Abyss | older | $31.49 | 19,709 86% | 591k | $19M (exactly $18,619,092) | Veewo Games |
| | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
| | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
 | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
 | Azur Lane Crosswave | older | $39.99 | 6,537 68% | 196k | $7.8M (exactly $7,842,439) | IDEA FACTORY, COMPILE HEART, FELISTELLA |
 | Nova Drift | older | $17.99 | 12,975 95% | 389k | $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) | Chimeric |
 | SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising | older | $19.99 | 10,111 94% | 303k | $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) | Flow Fire Games |
 | VOID/BREAKER | · EA | $29.99 | 2,506 91% | 75k | $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) | Stubby Games |
 | Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil | $17.99 | 3,740 98% | 112k | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) | 上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise | |
 | Pass the Fear | $18.99 | 2,985 79% | 90k | $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) | PlayMud Studio | |
 | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | Gatekeeper | $14.99 | 2,706 82% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,216,888) | Gravity Lagoon | |
 | Neon Abyss 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,968 68% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) | Veewo Games |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Vampire Hunters | $14.99 | 1,941 89% | 58k | $873k (exactly $872,868) | Gamecraft Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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