Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + FMV

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an FMV Shooter?

Shooter + FMV

Only 16 developers shipped an FMV Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.5k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1614 the market median. Revenue is up 1920% on the market; 13 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 1920% on the market, 13 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + FMV
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $16k → $959 → $3.6k → $599 → $24k → $311k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + FMV: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $6.5k (exactly $6,501)
Top 25% $73k (exactly $73,163)
Top 5% $1.0M (exactly $1,013,594)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 62
Announced 13
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 1920% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
FMV
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, FMV; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, FPS
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 1990's, 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 2,714 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $6.5k, 1 in 4 over $73k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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

Quantum Break 2016 · $28M Mirror 2: Project X 2022 · EA · $6.6M Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! 2026 · $1.0M STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II 2009 · $334k Don't Stop, Girlypop! 2026 · $311k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Quantum Break older $39.99 23,141 86% 694k $28M (exactly $27,762,258) Remedy Entertainment
Mirror 2: Project X · EA older $1.99 111,251 24% 3.3M $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs
Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! $24.99 1,352 92% 41k $1.0M (exactly $1,013,594) Auroch Digital
STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II older $5.99 1,861 80% 56k $334k (exactly $334,422) LucasArts
Don't Stop, Girlypop! $19.99 518 83% 16k $311k (exactly $310,645) Funny Fintan Softworks
少女妖精弹珠台 Elf Girl Pinball older $9.99 804 92% 24k $241k (exactly $240,959) OWENO
Killing Time: Resurrected $24.99 320 92% 9.6k $240k (exactly $239,904) Nightdive Studios, 3DO
[ECHOSTASIS] older $19.99 215 90% 6.5k $129k (exactly $128,935) ENIGMA STUDIO
Heroic Armored Company · EA older $16.99 185 56% 5.6k $94k (exactly $94,294) Magicvalley Studio（魔法谷工作室）
Star Trek™: Starfleet Academy older $19.99 129 81% 3.9k $77k (exactly $77,361) Interplay Entertainment Corp.
Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit $19.99 122 81% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Retroware, Programancer, Mega Cat Studi… (Retroware, Programancer, Mega Cat Studios)
Only Whores Survive 🔞 $9.99 148 61% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,356) BanzaiProject
Big Buck Hunter: Ultimate Trophy $39.99 20 60% 600 $24k (exactly $23,994) Cradle Games, Play Mechanix, Inc
Deadland Garden $3.99 200 92% 6.0k $24k (exactly $23,940) Ronin SoftWork
Captain Gazman Day Of The Rage $6.99 31 96% 930 $6.5k (exactly $6,501) Les Kalifas, Kazarma, VEB Videospielewe… (Les Kalifas, Kazarma, VEB Videospielewerk 'Bewegungsdruiden')
Bodycam:Adrenaline $9.99 2 0% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Rocket Game
Type To Kill: Full-Motion Vengeance $12.99 1 100% 30 $390 (exactly $390) cptnoremac

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