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Should I ship a Level Editor FPS?
FPS + Level Editor
Of 24 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 63 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×6.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $520k, ×352 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 63 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.6k (exactly $9,588) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $43,157) |
| Top 5% | $528k (exactly $527,736) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 95% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 21%, 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
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS, Level Editor; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 57% positive over 7,060 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 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
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
A Dance of Fire and Ice 2019 · $14M 
DUSK 2018 · $13M 
Severed Steel 2021 · $6.7M 
GoreBox 2023 · $6.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | A Dance of Fire and Ice | older | $5.99 | 78,688 94% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,140,234) | 7th Beat Games |
| | DUSK | older | $19.99 | 22,073 97% | 662k | $13M (exactly $13,237,178) | David Szymanski |
| | Severed Steel | older | $24.99 | 8,880 95% | 266k | $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) | Greylock Studio |
| | GoreBox | older | $8.99 | 23,130 84% | 694k | $6.2M (exactly $6,238,161) | F2Games |
 | Far Cry® 2 | older | $9.99 | 17,359 75% | 521k | $5.2M (exactly $5,202,492) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Ion Fury | older | $24.99 | 5,649 93% | 169k | $4.2M (exactly $4,235,055) | Voidpoint, LLC |
 | Prodeus | older | $24.99 | 5,505 92% | 165k | $4.1M (exactly $4,127,098) | Bounding Box Software Inc. |
 | Intruder | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,435 90% | 163k | $3.3M (exactly $3,259,369) | Superboss Games |
 | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | Wizordum | $19.99 | 880 91% | 26k | $528k (exactly $527,736) | Emberheart Games | |
 | Block Fortress 2 | $19.99 | 264 81% | 7.9k | $158k (exactly $158,321) | Foursaken Media | |
 | Plastic Battlegrounds | · EA | $9.99 | 281 89% | 8.4k | $84k (exactly $84,216) | Simulated Minds |
 | Hell of an Office | $14.99 | 121 89% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | 43 Studios | |
 | Only Lead Can Stop Them | $9.99 | 144 78% | 4.3k | $43k (exactly $43,157) | Warcry Interactive | |
 | Voxile | · EA | $17.99 | 78 69% | 2.3k | $42k (exactly $42,097) | VoxRay Games, Inc. |
 | Sniper Camouflage Orange Spy Warrior I Buried Two Bodies in the Garden and the Police Haven't Figured Out Yet That They're Missing Because They Were a Lonely Old Couple Who Had No Relatives Simulator 2026 | · EA | $9.99 | 77 66% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $23,077) | The Only Way Out |
 | Cyberscape | $14.99 | 43 93% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $19,337) | AtomicTorch Studio | |
 | UBERSLAUGHTER | $9.99 | 54 87% | 1.6k | $16k (exactly $16,184) | BillyBobCletus |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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