Do I ship it?

Games › Character Action Game › Character Action Game + Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shooter Character Action Game?

Character Action Game + Shooter

Only 14 developers shipped a Shooter Character Action 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, ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 47 more are announced, ×6.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $84k, ×56 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $17k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.0M, ×2061 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 47 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 55.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 47 announced, ×6.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Action Game + Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.7k → $226k → $539k → $31k
Outcomes for Character Action Game + Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $16k (exactly $16,192)
Median $84k (exactly $83,644)
Top 25% $500k (exactly $500,233)
Top 5% $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 125
Announced 47
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 15% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Action Game
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Character Action Game, Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Third-Person Shooter
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Difficult, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,652 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $17k, median $84k, 1 in 4 over $500k, 1 in 20 over $3.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $17k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Action Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Sci-fiPoor odds12 devs · median $305k · 30 announced
  2. + Action RPGPoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  3. + Action-AdventurePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  4. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds14 devs · median $58k · 43 announced
  5. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds22 devs · median $58k · 44 announced
  6. + Hack and SlashPoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  7. + Beat 'em upPoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  8. + AdventurePoor odds28 devs · median $29k · 100 announced
  9. + ActionPoor odds54 devs · median $20k · 188 announced
  10. + Action RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + RoguelikePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 16 announced
  12. + SimulationPoor odds10 devs · median $15k · 19 announced

All 39 pairs on the Character Action Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ULTRAKILL 2020 · EA · $192M Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced 2023 · $16M Evil West 2022 · $15M Vanquish 2017 · $4.2M VLADiK BRUTAL 2024 · $3.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ULTRAKILL · EA older $29.99 213,450 97% 6.4M $192M (exactly $192,040,965) Arsi "Hakita" Patala
Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced older $29.99 18,217 81% 547k $16M (exactly $16,389,835) Gearbox Software, Blind Squirrel Games
Evil West older $49.99 10,215 74% 306k $15M (exactly $15,319,436) Flying Wild Hog
Vanquish older $19.99 6,974 89% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,182,308) PlatinumGames, Little Stone Software
VLADiK BRUTAL older $11.99 9,551 89% 287k $3.4M (exactly $3,435,495) BRUTAL SOFTWARE
I Am Your Beast older $19.99 5,275 97% 158k $3.2M (exactly $3,163,417) Strange Scaffold
ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN $49.99 2,059 87% 62k $3.1M (exactly $3,087,882) GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.
Wanted: Dead older $29.99 1,373 67% 41k $1.2M (exactly $1,235,288) Soleil Ltd.
Redeemer: Enhanced Edition older $11.99 2,637 87% 79k $949k (exactly $948,529) Sobaka Studio
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
Shady Knight $19.99 898 93% 27k $539k (exactly $538,531) Alexey 'cptnsigh'
Valkyrie of Phantasm $29.99 556 86% 17k $500k (exactly $500,233) AREAZERO
Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation $9.99 1,019 97% 31k $305k (exactly $305,394) Ciaran Games LLC
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. $8.99 438 70% 13k $118k (exactly $118,129) STUDIO POCO
BioMenace Remastered $14.99 186 99% 5.6k $84k (exactly $83,644) Rigel Gameworks
Cyberpunk SFX $9.99 183 83% 5.5k $55k (exactly $54,845) Whale Rock Games
TEXNOPLAZM · EA $15.99 65 98% 2.0k $31k (exactly $31,180) Mothership Loudspeakerz
Rebel Engine $19.99 27 81% 810 $16k (exactly $16,192) Seven Leaf Clover

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