Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Detective

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Detective Shooter?

Shooter + Detective

Of 36 developers who shipped a Detective 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.. 65 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3367 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 65 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 65 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Detective
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $1.7k → $838 → $18k → $239 → $449 → $16k (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Detective: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $25,485)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 100
Announced 65
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 25% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Detective
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 19,855 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire 2026 · $13M Max Payne 2011 · $3.8M Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne 2008 · $3.6M Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M Alan Wake's American Nightmare 2012 · $2.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire $29.99 14,604 93% 438k $13M (exactly $13,139,219) Fumi Games
Max Payne older $9.99 12,773 88% 383k $3.8M (exactly $3,828,068) Remedy Entertainment
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne older $9.99 12,102 93% 363k $3.6M (exactly $3,626,969) Remedy Entertainment
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Alan Wake's American Nightmare older $8.99 8,352 74% 251k $2.3M (exactly $2,252,534) Remedy Entertainment
The Sinking City 2 $49.99 1,410 83% 42k $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) Frogwares
Supraworld · EA $29.99 1,471 91% 44k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,459) Supra Games
HellSign older $19.99 2,147 67% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) Ballistic Interactive
Perfect Heist 2 older $9.99 3,711 94% 111k $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) yeswecamp
GET EVEN older $29.99 923 76% 28k $830k (exactly $830,423) The Farm 51
Responding · EA $24.99 409 45% 12k $307k (exactly $306,627) Visionary Studios
Kvark $19.99 461 86% 14k $276k (exactly $276,462) Latest Past, Perun Creative
Sniper Killer $11.99 618 86% 19k $222k (exactly $222,295) Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare
KILLER INN · EA $9.99 670 44% 20k $201k (exactly $200,799) Square Enix, Tactic Studios
Connection: The Nightmare Within $7.99 138 84% 4.1k $33k (exactly $33,079) Dragon Level
Tache Noire $16.99 50 94% 1.5k $25k (exactly $25,485) StitchedCliffs
Outbreak: Shades of Horror Chromatic Split $24.99 24 50% 720 $18k (exactly $17,993) Dead Drop Studios LLC

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