Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Demons

Of 41 developers who shipped a Demon 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.. 65 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $210, ×0.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 65 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 90% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 65 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $2.2k → $449 → $539 → $1.4k → $89 → $179 (still earning) → $390 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $210 (exactly $210)
Top 25% $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 5% $45k (exactly $45,105)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 149
Announced 65
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 90% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,924 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $210, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $45k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead Estate 2021 · $2.6M Project Warlock 2018 · $1.7M HYPER DEMON 2022 · $1.4M Bloodshed 2025 · $711k Drums Rock 2023 · $241k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Estate older $14.99 5,778 95% 173k $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) Milkbar Lads
Project Warlock older $12.00 4,691 87% 141k $1.7M (exactly $1,688,760) Buckshot Software
HYPER DEMON older $14.99 3,087 94% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,388,224) Sorath
Bloodshed $12.99 1,824 84% 55k $711k (exactly $710,813) com8com1 Software
Drums Rock older $19.99 402 88% 12k $241k (exactly $241,079) Garage51
Demon Hunt · EA $6.99 460 77% 14k $96k (exactly $96,462) Massive Hug
KILL KILL KILL KILL older $29.99 94 89% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) Galactic Geckon
Cemetery Warrior 4 older $29.99 87 68% 2.6k $78k (exactly $78,274) Falco Software, kazakovstudios
Bosorka older $5.99 404 90% 12k $73k (exactly $72,599) Sengi Games
Haunted Lands $5.99 251 77% 7.5k $45k (exactly $45,105) alevgor
LUST Eternal 🔞 $4.99 212 55% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,736) Octo Games
DeviDevi Survivor $9.99 51 58% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) PAKOchan Factory
Hell Survivors · EA $7.99 38 55% 1.1k $9.1k (exactly $9,109) Aerilon
Cosmic Call $9.99 30 96% 900 $9.0k (exactly $8,991) CosmicDev
It Consumes $9.99 27 100% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Sublexical
No More Demon · EA $12.99 16 87% 480 $6.2k (exactly $6,235) Mundus Games
Survivor these Girls $4.99 15 60% 450 $2.2k (exactly $2,246) Black Hole

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