Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Bullet Time

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Bullet Time Survival game?

Survival + Bullet Time

Of 34 developers who shipped a Bullet Time Survival 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.. 41 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $210 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 22 developers shipped in the last year and 41 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 41 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Bullet Time
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $17k → $896 → $359 → $179 → $239 → $449 → $1.7k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Bullet Time: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $210 (exactly $210)
Top 25% $836 (exactly $836)
Top 5% $12k (exactly $12,059)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 115
Announced 41
Effort 6 / 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 140% on the market, supply 85% 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Bullet Time
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Survival, Bullet Time; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Bullet Hell
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 458 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 $210, 1 in 4 over $830, 1 in 20 over $12k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Killing Floor 2009 · $24M Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2013 · $1.6M OTXO 2023 · $1.5M Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2 2013 · $1.4M El Paso, Elsewhere 2023 · $835k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Killing Floor older $19.99 39,850 95% 1.2M $24M (exactly $23,898,045) Tripwire Interactive
Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army older $14.99 3,557 88% 107k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,583) Rebellion
OTXO older $14.99 3,303 93% 99k $1.5M (exactly $1,485,359) Lateralis Heavy Industries
Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2 older $14.99 3,020 84% 91k $1.4M (exactly $1,358,094) ·
El Paso, Elsewhere older $19.99 1,393 90% 42k $835k (exactly $835,382) Strange Scaffold
Dead Effect older $4.99 2,935 73% 88k $439k (exactly $439,370) BadFly Interactive, a.s.
ZomDay older $9.99 768 85% 23k $230k (exactly $230,170) Intostudio
ARMORED HEAD older $4.99 1,229 98% 37k $184k (exactly $183,981) Egor Rezenov
Stellar Interface older $12.99 188 78% 5.6k $73k (exactly $73,264) ImaginationOverflow
Aeon older $9.99 238 71% 7.1k $71k (exactly $71,329) Illusion Ranger
Aerial_Knight's DropShot $19.99 22 90% 660 $13k (exactly $13,193) Aerial_Knight
Endless waves survival $1.99 202 79% 6.1k $12k (exactly $12,059) Jeferson Belmiro
ParryMaster $2.99 72 75% 2.2k $6.5k (exactly $6,458) GOGOIO Games
Mutagenic $0.99 94 93% 2.8k $2.8k (exactly $2,792) Mutagenic Studios Ltd
Incremental Ragebait $3.99 18 38% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,155) Ill-Fated Studios
Clankers! $2.99 20 55% 600 $1.8k (exactly $1,794) Ill-Fated Studios
Space Bross $7.99 7 57% 210 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) Lavega Games
Hellfire Rampage VR $9.99 3 66% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Nazar Korinnyi
Ashrun Survivors · EA $4.90 6 100% 180 $882 (exactly $882) Nicholas Schmitz
DOOM Dawn $1.99 14 85% 420 $836 (exactly $836) Aeon

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