Should I ship a Mining FPS?
FPS + Mining
Only 9 developers shipped a Mining FPS 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, Island Notes, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×5.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×3.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×230 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 28 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) |
| Top 5% | $344k (exactly $344,495) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 235% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- FPS, Mining
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 8 games average 79% positive over 1,500 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.6 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
Island Notes 2025 · $344k 
Nuclear Epoch 2026 · $219k 
Hazeron Starship 2023 · $33k 
PostCollapse 2018 · $30k 
Red Moon: Survival 2023 · $16k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Island Notes | $12.99 | 884 82% | 27k | $344k (exactly $344,495) | KangBaoGame | |
| | Nuclear Epoch | $14.99 | 487 78% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,004) | Cat Play Studio | |
| | Hazeron Starship | older | $19.99 | 55 70% | 1.7k | $33k (exactly $32,984) | Hazeron Freehold LLC |
| | PostCollapse | older | $7.99 | 127 56% | 3.8k | $30k (exactly $30,442) | Ambiera |
| | Red Moon: Survival | older | $13.99 | 39 56% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $16,368) | WMG |
 | 仙道孤旅 | · EA older | $8.99 | 53 84% | 1.6k | $14k (exactly $14,294) | 仙道 |
 | Wild Frontier | older | $13.99 | 32 56% | 960 | $13k (exactly $13,430) | AMMC |
 | Digging the Forgotten Cave | $4.99 | 54 75% | 1.6k | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) | Cavernauts | |
 | Dig For Riches | $7.99 | 23 52% | 690 | $5.5k (exactly $5,513) | OxygenStudio | |
 | Internal Extraction | $7.99 | 22 77% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | LuisDev | |
 | Submeris | $4.99 | 19 57% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | OxygenStudio | |
 | GCS: Salvage Rat | $9.99 | 9 22% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Stellar Forge Works | |
 | Miner to Die | $0.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $59 (exactly $59) | Mercimek Games | |
 | Otherwise | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | MonstrCorp | |
 | Avatar Quest Online | · EA | $5.00 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | lv10.jp |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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