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Should I ship a Bullet Hell Wargame?
Wargame + Bullet Hell
Of 26 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Wargame 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, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $210 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 13 developers shipped in the last year and 32 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $210 (exactly $210) |
| Top 25% | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 5% | $21k (exactly $21,333) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 90 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 190% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Wargame
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Wargame, Bullet Hell; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shoot 'Em Up, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 533 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Wargame with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + LogicFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
Beach Defense: Zombie Invasion 2026 · $24k 
Bees vs Zombees 2024 · $21k 
Sexy Iron Maidens 2024 · $18k 
Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli 2025 · $17k 
Deputinization 2023 · $8.1k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Beach Defense: Zombie Invasion | $3.99 | 197 81% | 5.9k | $24k (exactly $23,581) | Only Fun Games | |
| | Bees vs Zombees | $7.99 | 89 92% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | DeadPixel | |
| | Sexy Iron Maidens | $4.99 | 123 69% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | Earl Marx | |
| | Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli | $7.99 | 73 71% | 2.2k | $17k (exactly $17,498) | AIx2 Games | |
| | Deputinization | older | $5.97 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $8.1k (exactly $8,060) | Myttsi Zabav |
 | Struggle Offensive | · EA older | $1.99 | 132 63% | 4.0k | $7.9k (exactly $7,880) | OXO Games |
 | SKYRAID | · EA older | $19.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) | Zaidos Games |
 | Eagles of World War 2 | $9.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Paul Connor | |
 | Nemesis: Race Against The Pandemic | older | $4.99 | 30 53% | 900 | $4.5k (exactly $4,491) | Arcade Theory |
 | RIP | · EA older | $9.99 | 13 46% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | INVERTED SOULS |
 | Starfield Battlegrounds | $6.99 | 13 69% | 390 | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) | 谭浩翔 | |
 | Strike Mission | $4.99 | 14 42% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Cube Games | |
 | Battle Medal: Super Auto Chess Swarm War | $7.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | SOT烈 | |
 | Meteor Expedition | · EA | $7.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | GQ |
 | The Black Siege | $4.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Fishbump Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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