Games › FPS › FPS + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration FPS?
FPS + Exploration
Of 519 developers who shipped an Exploration FPS 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.. 1,047 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×554 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 1,047 games are announced against 286 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $478 (exactly $478) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,949) |
| Top 5% | $830k (exactly $830,423) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 519 |
| Released games | 1,508 |
| Announced | 1,047 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- FPS
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS, Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Shooter
- Price point
- $6.49 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.49.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 272,103 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 295 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,047 games are announced against 286 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
FPS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + FaithFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + RunnerLong shot
- + Action RTSLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + DogsLong shot
Comparable games
Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B 
No Man's Sky 2016 · $567M 
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
Garry's Mod 2006 · $328M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cyberpunk 2077 | older | $59.99 | 883,400 87% | 27M | $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) | CD PROJEKT RED |
| | No Man's Sky | older | $59.99 | 315,054 83% | 9.5M | $567M (exactly $567,002,684) | Hello Games |
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | Garry's Mod | older | $9.99 | 1,093,131 96% | 33M | $328M (exactly $327,611,361) | Facepunch Studios |
 | Far Cry® 5 | older | $59.99 | 172,897 81% | 5.2M | $311M (exactly $311,162,731) | Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Sh… (Ubisoft Montreal, Red Storm, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Kiev) |
 | Deep Rock Galactic | older | $29.99 | 303,142 97% | 9.1M | $273M (exactly $272,736,857) | Ghost Ship Games |
 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl | $59.99 | 106,592 81% | 3.2M | $192M (exactly $191,833,622) | GSC Game World | |
 | Fallout 4 | older | $19.99 | 290,555 81% | 8.7M | $174M (exactly $174,245,834) | Bethesda Game Studios |
 | Metro Exodus | older | $29.99 | 117,453 90% | 3.5M | $106M (exactly $105,672,464) | 4A Games |
 | Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon | $44.99 | 33,560 87% | 1.0M | $45M (exactly $45,295,932) | Questline | |
 | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
 | Witchfire | · EA | $39.99 | 17,131 91% | 514k | $21M (exactly $20,552,061) | The Astronauts |
 | Drive Beyond Horizons | · EA | $24.99 | 17,903 77% | 537k | $13M (exactly $13,421,879) | Drive Beyond Horizons |
 | Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core | · EA | $29.99 | 14,049 60% | 421k | $13M (exactly $12,639,885) | Ghost Ship Games |
 | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
 | Atomfall | $49.99 | 4,526 76% | 136k | $6.8M (exactly $6,787,642) | Rebellion | |
 | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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