Do I ship it?

Games › Sniper › Sniper + Combat

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Sniper game?

Sniper + Combat

Of 24 developers who shipped a Combat Sniper 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.. 38 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×766 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 38 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 38 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sniper + Combat
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $2.5k → $1.4k → $5.7k → $5.5k → $0 → $2.2k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sniper + Combat: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $9.0k (exactly $8,999)
Top 5% $481k (exactly $480,959)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 90
Announced 38
Effort 6 / 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 10% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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.

Sniper
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Sniper, Combat; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 60,329 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 $900, 1 in 4 over $8.9k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Sci-fiFair9 devs · median $600 · 10 announced
  2. + ArcadeLong shot20 devs · median $300 · 14 announced
  3. + MilitaryPoor odds28 devs · median $3.0k · 38 announced
  4. + TacticalPoor odds22 devs · median $1.4k · 33 announced
  5. + Action-AdventurePoor odds15 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  6. + FPSPoor odds36 devs · median $899 · 57 announced
  7. + Bullet TimePoor odds8 devs · median $899 · 6 announced
  8. + StealthPoor odds12 devs · median $779 · 22 announced
  9. + ShooterPoor odds55 devs · median $600 · 84 announced
  10. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds10 devs · median $600 · 11 announced
  11. + ActionPoor odds69 devs · median $598 · 89 announced
  12. + PvEPoor odds11 devs · median $300 · 25 announced

All 36 pairs on the Sniper page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WARDOGS 2026 · EA · $70M Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 2021 · $15M Zombie Army 4: Dead War 2021 · $15M Dagger Directive 2026 · $481k Crossfire: Sierra Squad 2023 · $431k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WARDOGS · EA $39.99 58,250 81% 1.7M $70M (exactly $69,882,525) BULKHEAD
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 older $39.99 12,781 83% 383k $15M (exactly $15,333,366) CI Games
Zombie Army 4: Dead War older $49.99 10,028 86% 301k $15M (exactly $15,038,992) Rebellion
Dagger Directive $19.99 802 83% 24k $481k (exactly $480,959) Arcane Alpacas LLC
Crossfire: Sierra Squad older $29.99 479 73% 14k $431k (exactly $430,956) Smilegate
Project Sparrow · EA older $9.99 1,067 88% 32k $320k (exactly $319,780) Inspire Game Studios
Shooters, Ready! $4.99 807 99% 24k $121k (exactly $120,808) おこめたべたべず
NIRO older $17.99 189 76% 5.7k $102k (exactly $102,003) Arimac Lanka Private Limited
GW: Legacy older $15.99 128 61% 3.8k $61k (exactly $61,402) Alto Interactive
UberSoldier older $4.99 288 83% 8.6k $43k (exactly $43,114) Burut CT
Red Tears: Angola · EA $14.99 39 84% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) Arun Haines
Gun Reflex VR $8.99 42 61% 1.3k $11k (exactly $11,327) OBGames
Gooning Aim Trainer $0.99 303 93% 9.1k $9.0k (exactly $8,999) Pantsu Productions
Hook Line and Sniper $7.99 23 100% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) ItellaItella, Justin1L8
MARKSMAN VR · EA $8.99 16 31% 480 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Crimson Gate
Cat's Wars · EA $1.99 37 81% 1.1k $2.2k (exactly $2,209) Antelus Games
ACESurvivor $4.99 10 50% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) brainstorm Solo Studio

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