Do I ship it?

Games › FPS › FPS + Souls-like

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Souls-like FPS?

FPS + Souls-like

Of 36 developers who shipped a Souls-like 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.. 47 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×2.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $990; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×1674 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 47 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 47 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
FPS + Souls-like
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $176k → $40k → $21k → $4.0k → $7.9k → $1.0k → $13k (still earning) → $3.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for FPS + Souls-like: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $989 (exactly $989)
Median $4.2k (exactly $4,217)
Top 25% $56k (exactly $56,372)
Top 5% $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 110
Announced 47
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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

FPS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
FPS, Souls-like; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 23,869 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $990, median $4.2k, 1 in 4 over $56k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $990. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

FPS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LGBTQ+Fair28 devs · median $32k · 22 announced
  2. + Dating SimFair47 devs · median $19k · 36 announced
  3. + IdlerFair22 devs · median $4.2k · 23 announced
  4. + GamblingFair24 devs · median $4.1k · 22 announced
  5. + FaithFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 12 announced
  6. + Precision PlatformerFair37 devs · median $1.6k · 38 announced
  7. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $1.4k · 12 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair172 devs · median $1.2k · 190 announced
  9. + RunnerLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  10. + Action RTSLong shot16 devs · median $899 · 21 announced
  11. + Bullet HellLong shot130 devs · median $629 · 145 announced
  12. + DogsLong shot6 devs · median $594 · 7 announced

All 216 pairs on the FPS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Bright Memory: Infinite 2021 · $22M Witchfire 2024 · EA · $21M コイカツ！ / Koikatsu Party 2019 · $9.5M Bright Memory 2020 · $7.2M Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy 2024 · $5.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bright Memory: Infinite older $19.99 36,229 91% 1.1M $22M (exactly $21,726,531) FYQD-Studio
Witchfire · EA $39.99 17,131 91% 514k $21M (exactly $20,552,061) The Astronauts
コイカツ！ / Koikatsu Party older $59.99 5,298 91% 159k $9.5M (exactly $9,534,811) ILLUSION
Bright Memory older $7.99 30,166 89% 905k $7.2M (exactly $7,230,790) FYQD-Studio
Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy older $12.99 15,119 69% 454k $5.9M (exactly $5,891,874) Inusuku
Blood West older $24.99 6,132 90% 184k $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) Hyperstrange
SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash older $29.99 3,885 81% 117k $3.5M (exactly $3,495,334) Tamsoft
To Be or Not to Be older $12.99 8,035 89% 241k $3.1M (exactly $3,131,240) Team K
Hellsplit: Arena older $24.99 3,735 83% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,800,130) Deep Type Games
Psycho Patrol R · EA $39.99 2,090 88% 63k $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) Consumer Softproducts
Mohrta $19.99 1,482 91% 44k $889k (exactly $888,755) Scumhead, Osiol
Moros Protocol $24.99 731 81% 22k $548k (exactly $548,031) Pixel Reign
NEKOPARA After $9.99 1,198 90% 36k $359k (exactly $359,041) NEKO WORKs
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
Darkblade Ascent $10.99 551 80% 17k $182k (exactly $181,665) PST Games
Frankie's FunClub $14.99 236 65% 7.1k $106k (exactly $106,129) LOVEBITES
ENCHAIN · EA $19.99 94 96% 2.8k $56k (exactly $56,372) mattlawrdev
Dreamspring · EA $13.99 47 91% 1.4k $20k (exactly $19,726) Billyfighter

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