Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Economy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Economy Shooter?

Shooter + Economy

Of 33 developers who shipped an Economy 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.. 48 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $980k, ×1565 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 48 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 48 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Economy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.0k → $2.2k → $2.6k → $2.4k → $2.3k → $17k (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Economy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,398)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $17,982)
Top 5% $983k (exactly $983,060)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 64
Announced 48
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.49

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 45% on the market, supply 75% 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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, Economy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Action, Simulation
Price point
$6.49 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.49.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 11,964 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $980k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different second tag, 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

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M X Rebirth 2013 · $4.6M Longvinter 2025 · $4.2M The Walking Trade 2026 · $983k BLACKWOOD 2026 · $424k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
X Rebirth older $29.99 5,156 42% 155k $4.6M (exactly $4,638,853) Egosoft
Longvinter $19.99 6,951 68% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,168,515) Uuvana Studios
The Walking Trade $11.99 2,733 86% 82k $983k (exactly $983,060) Microwave Games
BLACKWOOD $24.99 565 46% 17k $424k (exactly $423,580) AttritoM7 Productions
CURE - A Hospital Simulator · EA $9.99 830 86% 25k $249k (exactly $248,751) Sentinel Games
Fracture Point $19.99 158 81% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Kyrylo Burlaka
Space Trader: Merchant Marine older $4.99 450 53% 14k $67k (exactly $67,365) ·
Shooting Range Simulator $11.99 164 74% 4.9k $59k (exactly $58,991) Buffed Games
Astrodle older $5.99 226 88% 6.8k $41k (exactly $40,612) Robin Nicolet
Idle Gumball Machine $4.99 255 90% 7.7k $38k (exactly $38,174) Antique Gear Games
Mining Survivors $4.99 132 74% 4.0k $20k (exactly $19,760) Wonderbounce Games
Cosmic Miners · EA $9.99 60 53% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,982) bitByte Games
Mining Wizards $4.99 116 78% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) TMA Forge

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