Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + Bullet Time
Should I ship a Bullet Time Swordplay game?
Swordplay + Bullet Time
Only 13 developers shipped a Bullet Time Swordplay game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Shady Knight, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×858 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 18 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $478 (exactly $478) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 5% | $539k (exactly $538,531) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 18 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Swordplay
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Time
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Swordplay, Bullet Time; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Difficult, Fast-Paced
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,040 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Swordplay with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + FightingPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
Wanted: Dead 2023 · $1.2M 
Shady Knight 2024 · $539k 
BRUTALISTICK VR 2024 · EA · $537k 
Dredgers 2019 · $169k 
Lithium City 2020 · $69k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Wanted: Dead | older | $29.99 | 1,373 67% | 41k | $1.2M (exactly $1,235,288) | Soleil Ltd. |
| | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
| | BRUTALISTICK VR | · EA older | $9.99 | 1,793 94% | 54k | $537k (exactly $537,362) | Kubunautilus |
| | Dredgers | older | $11.99 | 471 88% | 14k | $169k (exactly $169,419) | Pirate-Rob |
| | Lithium City | older | $7.99 | 286 92% | 8.6k | $69k (exactly $68,554) | Nico Tuason |
 | Red Ronin | older | $7.99 | 119 87% | 3.6k | $29k (exactly $28,524) | Wired Dreams Studio |
 | Ninja Legends | older | $19.99 | 40 95% | 1.2k | $24k (exactly $23,988) | Coinflip Studios |
 | Sacre Bleu | $14.99 | 46 82% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $20,686) | Hildring Studio Inc | |
 | Bakemono - Demon Brigade Tenmen Unit 01 | · EA older | $19.99 | 17 70% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | SuperSane Games |
 | High Fructose | · EA | $9.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | Chazak Games |
 | HexWind | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Charm Games | |
 | the Shadow of Swallow | $3.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $3.6k (exactly $3,591) | Raine Studio | |
 | BROKEN SOUL : Boss Rush | $12.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) | DoubleJLabs | |
 | Geometry raid | $1.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $478 (exactly $478) | RoughStone | |
 | Deadcave | $0.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $267 (exactly $267) | cnsmini | |
 | COLD BOOT | $3.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $239 (exactly $239) | DIG Games | |
 | Blood And Blade | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | ZlabiGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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