Do I ship it?

Games › Crafting › Crafting + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Shoot 'Em Up?

Crafting + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 29 developers who shipped a Crafting Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 29 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 12 developers shipped in the last year and 29 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 260% on the market, 29 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $2.2k → $3.6k → $1.8k → $899 → $1.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Crafting + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,193)
Top 5% $512k (exactly $512,045)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 70
Announced 29
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 up 260% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Crafting
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Shoot 'Em Up
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
Crafting, Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 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 94% positive over 27,122 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $510k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M After the Fall® 2021 · $1.5M Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition 2014 · $715k Reality Break 2025 · $512k Castle Of Alchemists 2025 · $278k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
After the Fall® older $19.99 2,572 76% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) Vertigo Games
Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition older $19.99 1,192 74% 36k $715k (exactly $714,842) Tribute Games Inc.
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
Crafty Survivors $11.99 712 83% 21k $256k (exactly $256,106) Flannel Bear Games
Gimbal older $14.99 130 79% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,461) 8888888 LABS
W.A.N.D. Project $9.99 172 68% 5.2k $52k (exactly $51,548) The Knights of Unity
Captain Forever Trilogy older $9.99 139 86% 4.2k $42k (exactly $41,658) Farbs
Psycho Starship Rampage older $9.99 128 83% 3.8k $38k (exactly $38,362) Ballistic Frogs
Elite Exorcist Miko · EA $9.99 104 96% 3.1k $31k (exactly $31,169) tian nya
Deadtime Defenders $9.99 48 79% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) Arcane Embers
Stellar Destiny: The Last Survivor · EA $9.99 24 91% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Amazing Vibes
ZEROAD $6.99 23 95% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) DrillMind
GRING×GRIND $4.99 24 66% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Lola Fisher

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