Games › Shooter › Shooter + Crafting
Should I ship a Crafting Shooter?
Shooter + Crafting
Of 156 developers who shipped a Crafting 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.. 366 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $570; 1 in 20 cleared $4.1M, ×6638 the market median. Revenue is up 380% on the market; 366 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $570 (exactly $570) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $67k (exactly $66,723) |
| Top 5% | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 156 |
| Released games | 425 |
| Announced | 366 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 380% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Crafting; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 688,942 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $570. 7 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 366 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Rust 2018 · $1.4B 
ARC Raiders 2025 · $359M 
Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M 
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide 2022 · $130M 
Far Cry 3 2012 · $74M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rust | older | $39.99 | 1,167,920 87% | 35M | $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) | Facepunch Studios |
| | ARC Raiders | $39.99 | 299,346 82% | 9.0M | $359M (exactly $359,125,396) | Embark Studios | |
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | older | $39.99 | 108,477 72% | 3.3M | $130M (exactly $130,139,857) | Fatshark |
| | Far Cry 3 | older | $19.99 | 122,691 87% | 3.7M | $74M (exactly $73,577,793) | Ubisoft Montreal, Massive Entertainment… (Ubisoft Montreal, Massive Entertainment, and Ubisoft Shanghai) |
 | Far Cry® 4 | older | $29.99 | 68,485 84% | 2.1M | $62M (exactly $61,615,954) | Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai,… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Shanghai, Toronto, Kiev) |
 | Far Cry® 6 | older | $59.99 | 33,280 71% | 998k | $60M (exactly $59,894,016) | Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubis… (Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Berlin) |
 | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
 | Far Cry® Primal | older | $29.99 | 38,798 86% | 1.2M | $35M (exactly $34,906,561) | Ubisoft |
 | Deadside | $24.99 | 34,560 76% | 1.0M | $26M (exactly $25,909,632) | Bad Pixel | |
 | MISERY | $12.99 | 20,015 85% | 600k | $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) | Platypus Entertainment | |
 | StarRupture | · EA | $19.99 | 12,333 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) | Creepy Jar |
 | HumanitZ | $19.99 | 11,155 74% | 335k | $6.7M (exactly $6,689,653) | Yodubzz Studios | |
 | The Front | $19.99 | 9,555 66% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) | Samar Studio | |
 | Longvinter | $19.99 | 6,951 68% | 209k | $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) | Uuvana Studios | |
 | PIONER | · EA | $29.99 | 3,205 62% | 96k | $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538) | GFAGAMES |
 | Age of Water | $29.99 | 2,883 72% | 86k | $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) | Three Whales Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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