Do I ship it?

Games › Extraction Shooter › Extraction Shooter + Exploration

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Exploration Extraction Shooter?

Extraction Shooter + Exploration

Of 23 developers who shipped an Exploration Extraction 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.. 61 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $82k, ×55 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $31k; 1 in 20 cleared $20M, ×13720 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 61 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 54.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 61 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Extraction Shooter + Exploration
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.6M → $101k → $580k → $443k (still earning) → $31k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Extraction Shooter + Exploration: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $31k (exactly $30,786)
Median $82k (exactly $81,713)
Top 25% $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368)
Top 5% $21M (exactly $20,552,061)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 29
Announced 61
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $15.99

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 45% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Extraction Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online PvPvE sessions with persistent stash servers
Exploration
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Extraction Shooter, Exploration; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Survival
Price point
$15.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $15.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 139,655 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $31k, median $82k, 1 in 4 over $2.7M, 1 in 20 over $20M.

3 in 10 developers made under $31k. 3 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Extraction Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + PvPPoor odds18 devs · median $1.1M · 48 announced
  2. + Online Co-OpPoor odds29 devs · median $443k · 70 announced
  3. + FPSPoor odds29 devs · median $219k · 57 announced
  4. + PvEPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  5. + Open WorldPoor odds19 devs · median $101k · 37 announced
  6. + Sci-fiPoor odds26 devs · median $82k · 43 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds25 devs · median $82k · 49 announced
  8. + LootPoor odds26 devs · median $81k · 60 announced
  9. + Looter ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  10. + ShooterPoor odds51 devs · median $65k · 105 announced
  11. + SurvivalPoor odds41 devs · median $65k · 79 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds21 devs · median $65k · 54 announced

All 16 pairs on the Extraction Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M Witchfire 2024 · EA · $21M SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M ZERO Sievert 2024 · $8.6M Ghosts of Tabor 2023 · EA · $6.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
Witchfire · EA $39.99 17,131 91% 514k $21M (exactly $20,552,061) The Astronauts
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
ZERO Sievert $19.99 14,378 84% 431k $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) CABO Studio
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada $39.99 3,303 40% 99k $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) Game Studio Inc.
The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu $29.99 3,107 69% 93k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) ACE Team
CONVRGENCE · EA older $24.99 1,562 88% 47k $1.2M (exactly $1,171,031) Monkey-With-a-Bomb
Lost Rift · EA $24.99 1,465 67% 44k $1.1M (exactly $1,098,310) People Can Fly
STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions · EA $29.99 800 56% 24k $720k (exactly $719,760) System Era Softworks
Whisper Mountain Outbreak · EA $7.99 2,421 84% 73k $580k (exactly $580,314) Toge Productions
Cargo Hunters · EA $19.99 739 82% 22k $443k (exactly $443,178) Order Of Meta

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