Do I ship it?

Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Cyberpunk

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cyberpunk Top-Down Shooter?

Top-Down Shooter + Cyberpunk

Of 69 developers who shipped a Cyberpunk Top-Down 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.. 159 more are announced, ×3.7 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 $180k, ×301 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 159 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 159 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Top-Down Shooter + Cyberpunk
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 69
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $390 → $446 → $2.6k → $2.7k → $597 → $5.1k → $449 (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Top-Down Shooter + Cyberpunk: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 69
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $6.7k (exactly $6,742)
Top 5% $189k (exactly $188,874)
Developers, 2 yr 69
Released games 227
Announced 159
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 40% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Cyberpunk
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 6,062 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 $6.7k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 159 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + VampiresFair16 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  3. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 15 announced
  4. + IdlerFair24 devs · median $748 · 30 announced
  5. + ArcheryFair9 devs · median $359 · 11 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 28 announced
  7. + Tactical RPGPoor odds12 devs · median $5.5k · 16 announced
  8. + Action RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + HistoricalPoor odds18 devs · median $3.3k · 24 announced
  10. + ModernPoor odds13 devs · median $3.3k · 19 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds45 devs · median $3.1k · 125 announced
  12. + DystopianPoor odds24 devs · median $3.1k · 92 announced

All 150 pairs on the Top-Down Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Ascent 2021 · $17M RUINER 2017 · $6.2M SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M Brigador: Up-Armored Edition 2016 · $3.4M UBERMOSH 2015 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
RUINER older $19.99 10,338 89% 310k $6.2M (exactly $6,199,699) Reikon Games
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising older $19.99 10,111 94% 303k $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) Flow Fire Games
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition older $24.99 4,580 93% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
UBERMOSH older $4.99 8,757 92% 263k $1.3M (exactly $1,310,923) Walter Machado
Nex Machina older $19.99 1,467 89% 44k $880k (exactly $879,760) Housemarque
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Brigador Killers · EA $24.99 572 69% 17k $429k (exactly $428,828) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
Bot Vice older $9.99 1,349 93% 40k $404k (exactly $404,295) DYA Games
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum $12.99 839 98% 25k $327k (exactly $326,958) nodayshalleraseyou
Enter the Chronosphere · EA $14.99 420 94% 13k $189k (exactly $188,874) Effort Star
Sodaman $7.99 738 78% 22k $177k (exactly $176,899) Tape Corps
Dark Light: Survivor · EA $16.99 346 75% 10k $176k (exactly $176,356) Mirari&Co.
CyberCorp $14.99 351 75% 11k $158k (exactly $157,845) Megame LLC
Kusan: City of Wolves $14.99 295 89% 8.9k $133k (exactly $132,662) CIRCLEfromDOT
Glitchpunk $19.99 174 47% 5.2k $104k (exactly $104,348) Dark Lord
BIRDCAGE $13.99 218 97% 6.5k $91k (exactly $91,495) POLYGON BIRD

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