Do I ship it?

GamesLooter ShooterLooter Shooter + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Combat

Of 104 developers who shipped a Combat Looter Shooter 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.. 208 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $140. 208 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 190% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 190% on the market, 208 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 104
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $1.3k → $600 → $299 → $150 → $3.1k → $419 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 104
Bottom 30% $135 (exactly $135)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 5% $660k (exactly $660,270)
Developers, 2 yr 104
Released games 272
Announced 208
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 190% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 29,793 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $140, median $450, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $660k.

3 in 10 developers made under $140. 9 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 208 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
Borderlands 2 older $19.99 210,364 89% 6.3M $126M (exactly $126,155,291) Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (L… (Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
REMNANT II® older $49.99 46,219 82% 1.4M $69M (exactly $69,314,634) Gunfire Games
EVERSPACE™ 2 older $49.99 12,040 85% 361k $18M (exactly $18,056,388) ROCKFISH Games
Marauders · EA older $29.99 13,505 68% 405k $12M (exactly $12,150,448) Small Impact Games
Risk of Rain Returns older $14.99 24,795 89% 744k $11M (exactly $11,150,312) Hopoo Games
Necromunda: Hired Gun older $39.99 5,892 68% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,068,632) Streum On Studio
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
Jump Space · EA $19.99 10,724 85% 322k $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) Keepsake Games
Incursion Red River · EA older $21.99 8,300 76% 249k $5.5M (exactly $5,475,510) Games Of Tomorrow GmbH
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
Mycopunk · EA $14.99 4,081 88% 122k $1.8M (exactly $1,835,226) Pigeons at Play
LORT · EA $14.99 3,933 77% 118k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,670) Big Distraction
Pass the Fear $18.99 2,985 79% 90k $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) PlayMud Studio
Relic Hunters Legend $19.99 1,101 65% 33k $660k (exactly $660,270) Rogue Snail
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
Dark Hunting Ground $12.99 771 92% 23k $300k (exactly $300,459) BingX
在赛博世界和100个道侣修仙 $17.99 255 69% 7.7k $138k (exactly $137,624) 雙峰狂詩曲
Keep Her Safe · EA $9.99 382 97% 11k $114k (exactly $114,485) Gugu Studio

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