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Should I ship a Bullet Time Time Manipulation game?
Bullet Time + Time Manipulation
Of 35 developers who shipped a Bullet Time Time Manipulation 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.. 61 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $94k, ×150 the market median. Revenue is up 255% on the market; 61 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $94,406) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 119 |
| Announced | 61 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 255% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Bullet Time, Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, First-Person, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,502 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. Nearly all of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Bullet Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NoirFair
- + LogicFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + LootFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + StrategyFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Quick-Time EventsLong shot
- + On-Rails ShooterLong shot
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Beat 'em upPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE | older | $24.99 | 9,247 85% | 277k | $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT VR | older | $24.99 | 7,978 82% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Singularity™ | older | $29.99 | 5,487 93% | 165k | $4.9M (exactly $4,936,654) | Raven Software |
| | Gravity Field | older | $29.99 | 778 79% | 23k | $700k (exactly $699,967) | Kazakov Studios |
| | TimeShift™ | older | $19.99 | 1,131 80% | 34k | $678k (exactly $678,261) | Saber Interactive |
| | Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum | $12.99 | 839 98% | 25k | $327k (exactly $326,958) | nodayshalleraseyou | |
| | Iron Danger | older | $19.99 | 544 73% | 16k | $326k (exactly $326,237) | Action Squad Studios |
| | Bullet Sorrow VR | older | $19.99 | 272 83% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | VikingVRStudio |
| | Maze Mice | $9.99 | 315 88% | 9.5k | $94k (exactly $94,406) | TrampolineTales | |
| | Titans of the Past | $24.99 | 108 83% | 3.2k | $81k (exactly $80,968) | Devil's Dozen Games | |
| | Time Snatcher Handy | $9.99 | 88 96% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | PulleyBun, ClockworkCats | |
| | COLD VR | $19.99 | 28 60% | 840 | $17k (exactly $16,792) | ALLWARE LLC | |
| | SPEEDSHOT | $14.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | karmacode | |
| | Happy Monster | · EA | $8.99 | 41 82% | 1.2k | $11k (exactly $11,058) | Destined Game Studio |
| | Time Hacker | $14.99 | 24 70% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Joy Way | |
| | Duck Paradox | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Magic Games | |
| | HexWind | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Charm Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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