Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Twin Stick Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Twin Stick Shooter?

Combat + Twin Stick Shooter

Of 173 developers who shipped a Combat Twin Stick 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.. 298 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $97k, ×155 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 298 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 298 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Twin Stick Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 173
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $599 → $1.4k → $1.5k → $719 → $1.5k → $539 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Twin Stick Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 173
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 5% $98k (exactly $97,631)
Developers, 2 yr 173
Released games 422
Announced 298
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 55% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Twin Stick Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat, Twin Stick Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 6,596 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $97k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 90 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 298 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Nine Parchments 2017 · $2.5M War Mongrels 2021 · $2.5M Atomicrops 2020 · $2.3M Archvale 2021 · $919k Turnip Boy Robs a Bank 2024 · $850k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nine Parchments older $19.99 4,123 77% 124k $2.5M (exactly $2,472,563) Frozenbyte
War Mongrels older $44.99 1,826 72% 55k $2.5M (exactly $2,464,552) Destructive Creations
Atomicrops older $14.99 5,134 93% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) Bird Bath Games
Archvale older $14.99 2,044 88% 61k $919k (exactly $919,187) idoz & phops
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank older $14.99 1,890 95% 57k $850k (exactly $849,933) Snoozy Kazoo
Relic Hunters Legend $19.99 1,101 65% 33k $660k (exactly $660,270) Rogue Snail
Decision: Red Daze older $19.99 855 74% 26k $513k (exactly $512,743) FlyAnvil
Section 13 $19.99 770 70% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) Ocean Drive Studio, Inc.
QUICKERFLAK older $4.99 2,819 87% 85k $422k (exactly $422,004) Walter Machado
Cyberhunt older $4.99 2,741 84% 82k $410k (exactly $410,328) NukGames
Sektori $14.99 897 96% 27k $403k (exactly $403,381) Kimmo Lahtinen
Galactic Glitch $12.99 920 89% 28k $359k (exactly $358,524) Crunchy Leaf Games
Morsels $14.99 552 75% 17k $248k (exactly $248,234) Furcula
Mech Havoc · EA $9.99 813 96% 24k $244k (exactly $243,656) Mid Development
Shotgun Cop Man $9.99 633 96% 19k $190k (exactly $189,710) DeadToast Entertainment
The Ember Guardian $19.99 278 82% 8.3k $167k (exactly $166,717) Ratbit Games
Endless Forest Dream $8.99 362 77% 11k $98k (exactly $97,631) Seeking-chan
The Horde Wants You Dead $9.99 270 64% 8.1k $81k (exactly $80,919) Bellyflop Games

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