Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Time › Bullet Time + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Time Shoot 'Em Up?

Bullet Time + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 63 developers who shipped a Bullet Time Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 85 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240, ×0.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 85 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper, while revenue is down 35% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 85 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Time + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 63
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $898 → $1.2k → $239 → $628 → $300 → $838 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Time + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 63
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,159)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $20,760)
Developers, 2 yr 63
Released games 256
Announced 85
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 down 35% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 Time
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Shoot 'Em Up
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
Bullet Time, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 1,709 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $240, 1 in 4 over $2.1k, 1 in 20 over $20k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + NoirFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 12 announced
  2. + LogicFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 7 announced
  3. + Boomer ShooterFair30 devs · median $1.7k · 30 announced
  4. + LootFair15 devs · median $836 · 21 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair13 devs · median $718 · 8 announced
  6. + StrategyFair60 devs · median $599 · 59 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair20 devs · median $597 · 20 announced
  8. + Quick-Time EventsLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  9. + On-Rails ShooterLong shot8 devs · median $359 · 8 announced
  10. + DystopianPoor odds13 devs · median $44k · 39 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds13 devs · median $5.4k · 30 announced
  12. + Beat 'em upPoor odds11 devs · median $4.7k · 19 announced

All 95 pairs on the Bullet Time page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

HARD BULLET 2020 · EA · $3.5M OTXO 2023 · $1.5M HYPER DEMON 2022 · $1.4M The Hong Kong Massacre 2019 · $1.0M Gungrave G.O.R.E 2022 · $669k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HARD BULLET · EA older $19.99 5,860 83% 176k $3.5M (exactly $3,514,242) GexagonVR
OTXO older $14.99 3,303 93% 99k $1.5M (exactly $1,485,359) Lateralis Heavy Industries
HYPER DEMON older $14.99 3,087 94% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,388,224) Sorath
The Hong Kong Massacre older $19.99 1,696 73% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,017,091) VRESKI
Gungrave G.O.R.E older $29.99 744 71% 22k $669k (exactly $669,377) Iggymob Co.,Ltd
Guns of Fury $14.99 950 88% 29k $427k (exactly $427,215) Gelato Games Ltd
Kill The Crows older $4.99 2,848 95% 85k $426k (exactly $426,346) 5minlab Corp.
Disassembly 3D older $29.99 309 81% 9.3k $278k (exactly $278,007) Khor Chin Heong
Neon Inferno $19.99 378 92% 11k $227k (exactly $226,687) Zenovia Interactive
Bleed older $4.99 1,498 92% 45k $224k (exactly $224,251) Ian Campbell
Touhou Lensed Night Sky, Kaseigai $22.00 144 95% 4.3k $95k (exactly $95,040) Fire Land
Deadliest Pigeon $6.99 99 93% 3.0k $21k (exactly $20,760) Rusty Rex
Aerial_Knight's DropShot $19.99 22 90% 660 $13k (exactly $13,193) Aerial_Knight
ODDRooM $14.99 26 96% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) TEAM ODD
Silver Bullet $6.99 35 100% 1.1k $7.3k (exactly $7,340) 1CC Games
Duck Paradox $9.99 19 100% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Magic Games
Murder Inc $9.99 18 77% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) PigeonDev
Astro Fighters 2 $9.99 18 88% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Paul Connor

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