Do I ship it?

Games › Tanks › Tanks + Bullet Hell

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Hell Tank game?

Tanks + Bullet Hell

Of 28 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Tank game 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.. 32 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 19 developers shipped in the last year and 32 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 150% on the market, 32 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tanks + Bullet Hell
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $120 → $898 → $299 → $119 → $419 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tanks + Bullet Hell: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $898 (exactly $898)
Top 5% $23k (exactly $22,904)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 80
Announced 32
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 up 150% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tanks
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Tanks, Bullet Hell; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 481 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $22k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tanks with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair25 devs · median $5.4k · 26 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  3. + Turn-Based TacticsFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  4. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Open WorldFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 11 announced
  6. + 2D PlatformerFair11 devs · median $599 · 11 announced
  7. + Online Co-OpPoor odds10 devs · median $16k · 26 announced
  8. + RPGPoor odds13 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  9. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds18 devs · median $7.2k · 23 announced
  10. + Action RTSPoor odds12 devs · median $4.0k · 19 announced
  11. + Real Time TacticsPoor odds22 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  12. + TacticalPoor odds49 devs · median $2.5k · 85 announced

All 71 pairs on the Tanks page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Beach Invasion 1944 2022 · $311k Commando Collection 2024 · $212k Wee Tanks! 2023 · $164k Beach Invasion 1945 - Pacific 2023 · $76k Aircraft Evolution 2018 · $60k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Beach Invasion 1944 older $9.99 1,038 84% 31k $311k (exactly $311,089) AIx2 Games
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Wee Tanks! older $9.99 548 90% 16k $164k (exactly $164,236) Studio Kit
Beach Invasion 1945 - Pacific older $9.99 255 78% 7.7k $76k (exactly $76,424) AIx2 Games
Aircraft Evolution older $8.99 221 80% 6.6k $60k (exactly $59,604) Satur Entertainment
Furious Angels older $4.99 345 87% 10k $52k (exactly $51,646) MorfeoDev
Ballistic Tanks older $4.99 212 81% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,736) Kirklight Games
Thunder Tank: Iron Shield $3.99 221 82% 6.6k $26k (exactly $26,454) Crazy Studio
BROTANK $4.99 153 81% 4.6k $23k (exactly $22,904) Dfirend Games
Tanky Tanks 2 older $9.99 45 100% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) EpiXR Games UG
Threads of War $4.99 45 97% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) KoS
Vehicle No. 4 $6.99 23 86% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) indiejoh
Battle Echoes $6.99 7 85% 210 $1.5k (exactly $1,468) rose may games
Contract of Swarm Hunter $2.99 15 93% 450 $1.3k (exactly $1,346) ZYI Game
FTS: Frontline Tank Survivor · EA $4.99 6 33% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Rookie 7 Studio
BattleTanks - Animal Wars $4.99 4 100% 120 $599 (exactly $599) Kasur Games
Tread Heavy $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) Nos Games LTD
Tank Fight $7.99 2 100% 60 $479 (exactly $479) Pixel_Gamer, TNT_MAN1111

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.