Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + War

Of 75 developers who shipped a War 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.. 94 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 48 developers shipped in the last year and 94 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 94 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 75
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $269 → $1.3k → $449 → $955 → $2.2k → $899 → $898 (still earning) → $89 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 75
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $480 (exactly $480)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,338)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $17,498)
Developers, 2 yr 75
Released games 243
Announced 94
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 30% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Bullet Hell; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 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 $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,404 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $480, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 94 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Bullet Hell with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SuperheroStrong odds11 devs · median $3.4k · 7 announced
  2. + FaithFair26 devs · median $17k · 29 announced
  3. + VampiresFair43 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  4. + Creature CollectorFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  5. + Strategy RPGFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  6. + PiratesFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 20 announced
  7. + CatsFair44 devs · median $1.7k · 59 announced
  8. + HackingFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 17 announced
  9. + Time ManagementFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair24 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  11. + DemonsFair101 devs · median $1.2k · 125 announced
  12. + Naval CombatFair14 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced

All 185 pairs on the Bullet Hell page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sky Force Reloaded 2017 · $805k Sky Force Anniversary 2015 · $627k Jets'n'Guns 2 2020 · $559k Cyberhunt 2017 · $410k CYGNI: All Guns Blazing 2024 · $403k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sky Force Reloaded older $9.99 2,687 92% 81k $805k (exactly $805,294) Infinite Dreams
Sky Force Anniversary older $9.99 2,091 92% 63k $627k (exactly $626,673) Infinite Dreams
Jets'n'Guns 2 older $15.99 1,165 90% 35k $559k (exactly $558,850) Rake in Grass
Cyberhunt older $4.99 2,741 84% 82k $410k (exactly $410,328) NukGames
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing older $29.99 448 60% 13k $403k (exactly $403,066) KeelWorks
Warhammer 40,000: Dakka Squadron - Flyboyz Edition older $19.99 416 78% 12k $249k (exactly $249,475) Phosphor Game Studios
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Rise & Shine older $9.99 453 73% 14k $136k (exactly $135,764) Super Mega Team
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
HELLBREAK $14.99 275 76% 8.3k $124k (exactly $123,668) Double Barrel Games
UNDER DEFEAT $19.99 81 95% 2.4k $49k (exactly $48,576) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli $7.99 73 71% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) AIx2 Games
TOUHOU RHAPSODY OF MOON RABBIT · EA $9.99 47 82% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) 瓦尔基里游戏
Banner of Conquest $4.99 89 65% 2.7k $13k (exactly $13,323) Haojoy Game
Gun Reflex VR $8.99 42 61% 1.3k $11k (exactly $11,327) OBGames
Space Dragons $9.99 36 83% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) TEAM Black Hat Robot
UNSIGHT $7.99 42 50% 1.3k $10k (exactly $10,067) C51 Games
Kamikaze Empire $12.99 21 100% 630 $8.2k (exactly $8,184) Kamikaze Kobo

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