Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Crafting

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Crafting

Of 58 developers who shipped a Crafting 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.. 119 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.5k, ×3.7 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×1925 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 119 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 119 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Crafting
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 58
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $59k → $2.2k → $5.7k → $4.8k → $5.5k → $2.2k → $13k (still earning) → $5.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Crafting: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 58
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $5.5k (exactly $5,472)
Top 25% $79k (exactly $78,561)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538)
Developers, 2 yr 58
Released games 124
Announced 119
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 60% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Crafting
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, Crafting; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Survival
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 61,864 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $5.5k, 1 in 4 over $78k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 119 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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

Deadside 2024 · $26M Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M Ghosts of Tabor 2023 · EA · $6.9M PIONER 2025 · EA · $2.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deadside $24.99 34,560 76% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,909,632) Bad Pixel
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
Magicraft $15.99 15,051 92% 452k $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) Wave Games
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
PIONER · EA $29.99 3,205 62% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538) GFAGAMES
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
DeadPoly · EA older $9.99 5,384 78% 162k $1.6M (exactly $1,613,585) TFL Games
After the Fall® older $19.99 2,572 76% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) Vertigo Games
Starpoint Gemini 3 older $29.99 759 49% 23k $683k (exactly $682,872) Little Green Men Games
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Project L33T: Founders Edition $19.99 525 47% 16k $315k (exactly $314,842) Targetpoint Interactive, Holmgard Games
Heat Death: Survival Train · EA $11.99 709 77% 21k $255k (exactly $255,027) Mass Game Devs
LIFE EFFECT Survival · EA $14.99 488 85% 15k $219k (exactly $219,454) LIFE EFFECT

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