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Should I ship an Exploration Shoot 'Em Up?
Exploration + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 63 developers who shipped an Exploration Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 123 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $92k, ×194 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 123 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,118) |
| Top 5% | $92k (exactly $92,289) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 260 |
| Announced | 123 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 down 70% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 5,637 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 123 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Journey To The Savage Planet 2021 · $5.1M 
Minishoot' Adventures 2024 · $3.5M 
Metro Awakening 2024 · $2.7M 
Squirrel with a Gun 2024 · $1.9M 
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer 2025 · $641k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Journey To The Savage Planet | older | $29.99 | 5,674 87% | 170k | $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) | Typhoon |
| | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
| | Metro Awakening | $29.99 | 3,013 73% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) | Vertigo Games | |
| | Squirrel with a Gun | older | $19.99 | 3,112 86% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,866,266) | Dee Dee Creations LLC |
| | Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer | $18.99 | 1,126 78% | 34k | $641k (exactly $641,482) | Runner Duck | |
 | Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration | older | $39.99 | 457 92% | 14k | $548k (exactly $548,263) | Digital Eclipse |
 | Insect Swarm | older | $6.99 | 2,491 84% | 75k | $522k (exactly $522,363) | Parallel Portal |
 | BLACKWOOD | $24.99 | 565 46% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | AttritoM7 Productions | |
 | The Knight Witch | older | $19.99 | 643 72% | 19k | $386k (exactly $385,607) | Super Mega Team |
 | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Cyberwar: Neon City | · EA | $17.99 | 171 90% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $92,289) | Cyber Monkey Studios |
 | SNAKE GAME ULTRA CORE | $29.99 | 89 88% | 2.7k | $80k (exactly $80,073) | Galactic Geckon | |
 | Mythical Concept STARNAUT | $29.99 | 67 92% | 2.0k | $60k (exactly $60,280) | crim Co., Ltd. | |
 | Super Roboy | $14.99 | 109 93% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | Vincent Penning | |
 | Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship | $9.99 | 139 75% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $41,658) | Zing Games Inc., 紫英互娱 | |
 | GUNFIELD | $4.99 | 249 95% | 7.5k | $37k (exactly $37,275) | Shiv | |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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