Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Loot game?

Loot + Female Protagonist

Of 50 developers who shipped a Female-Led Loot game 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.. 81 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×370 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 81 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 81 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 50
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.9k → $29k → $3.9k → $4.1k → $2.2k → $4.2k → $14k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 50
Bottom 30% $1.6k (exactly $1,560)
Median $3.4k (exactly $3,356)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $20,143)
Top 5% $232k (exactly $232,495)
Developers, 2 yr 50
Released games 131
Announced 81
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 30% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Hack and Slash
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 23,355 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.6k, median $3.4k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.6k. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 81 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition older $49.99 33,892 87% 1.0M $51M (exactly $50,827,832) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Battle Chasers: Nightwar older $29.99 5,573 87% 167k $5.0M (exactly $5,014,028) Airship Syndicate
Home Behind 2 older $19.99 6,585 86% 198k $3.9M (exactly $3,949,024) TPP Studio
Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand older $39.99 2,773 74% 83k $3.3M (exactly $3,326,768) Deck13
Nightmare Reaper older $24.99 3,394 93% 102k $2.5M (exactly $2,544,482) Blazing Bit Games
Torchlight older $14.99 5,462 90% 164k $2.5M (exactly $2,456,261) Runic Games
Sacred Gold older $9.99 3,995 84% 120k $1.2M (exactly $1,197,302) Studio II
Scarlet Maiden older $10.99 2,825 94% 85k $931k (exactly $931,402) Otterside Games
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Concubine · EA $14.99 517 81% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) Upgrade Entertainment
无休仙途 $5.99 966 72% 29k $174k (exactly $173,590) GOCORE
Thick As Thieves $4.99 1,106 65% 33k $166k (exactly $165,568) OtherSide Entertainment
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
The Awakener: Battle Tendency $14.98 233 74% 7.0k $105k (exactly $104,710) TANER GAMES
The Girl from Arkanya $19.99 153 92% 4.6k $92k (exactly $91,754) Arkanya Games
Outrider Mako $17.99 121 65% 3.6k $65k (exactly $65,304) Asamado Games
Trials of Valor $18.99 100 95% 3.0k $57k (exactly $56,970) Armored Goblin

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