Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Dystopian
Should I ship a Dystopian Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + Dystopian
Only 14 developers shipped a Dystopian Looter Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Forever Winter, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 45 more are announced, ×5.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×6.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $19M, ×12838 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 45 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,709) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $35,976) |
| Top 5% | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 45 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 170% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Looter Shooter
- effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
- Dystopian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Shooter
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Difficult, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 22,802 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Looter Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MechsFair
- + Vehicular CombatFair
- + IdlerFair
- + 3D PlatformerLong shot
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
Comparable games
The Forever Winter 2024 · EA · $19M 
Ghosts of Tabor 2023 · EA · $6.9M 
VLADiK BRUTAL 2024 · $3.4M 
After the Fall® 2021 · $1.5M 
BULT: Hunting simulator 2026 · EA · $260k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Forever Winter | · EA | $29.99 | 21,376 68% | 641k | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) | Fun Dog Studios |
| | Ghosts of Tabor | · EA older | $24.99 | 9,140 70% | 274k | $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) | Combat Waffle Studios |
| | VLADiK BRUTAL | older | $11.99 | 9,551 89% | 287k | $3.4M (exactly $3,435,495) | BRUTAL SOFTWARE |
| | After the Fall® | older | $19.99 | 2,572 76% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) | Vertigo Games |
| | BULT: Hunting simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 869 87% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,439) | Nordrise |
 | Gangs of Sherwood | older | $39.99 | 189 38% | 5.7k | $227k (exactly $226,743) | Appeal Studios |
 | Tankenstein | · EA | $17.99 | 238 89% | 7.1k | $128k (exactly $128,449) | Landship Games LTD |
 | Sector Six | older | $8.00 | 223 93% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,520) | V3663L |
 | Shell Runner | $14.99 | 80 57% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | Reija | |
 | Deep Space Exploitation | $8.99 | 131 96% | 3.9k | $35k (exactly $35,331) | JuhrJuhr | |
 | HOPE 01 | · EA | $11.99 | 43 88% | 1.3k | $15k (exactly $15,467) | Bending Boy Games |
 | XENO WIPEOUT! | $9.99 | 34 79% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Rama Studio | |
 | Bail Force: Cyberpunk Bounty Hunters | $9.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | SeblaccSoft | |
 | Dustward | $14.99 | 7 42% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | Inonia Games | |
 | Under Destruction | · EA | $18.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.7k (exactly $1,709) | Quantum Dynamics |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.