Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Gun Customization

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Gun Customization Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Gun Customization

Of 33 developers who shipped a Gun Customization Looter Shooter 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.. 90 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×3.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $45M, ×30201 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 90 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 90 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Gun Customization
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.5k → $9.2k → $5.7k → $69k → $14k → $7.9k → $1.6k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Gun Customization: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 25% $50k (exactly $50,358)
Top 5% $45M (exactly $45,240,892)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 80
Announced 90
Effort 8 / 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 80% on the market, supply 20% more 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Gun Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Gun Customization; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Extraction Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 173,457 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $50k, 1 in 20 over $45M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PAYDAY 2 2013 · $134M Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M The Forever Winter 2024 · EA · $19M Incursion Red River 2024 · EA · $5.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PAYDAY 2 older $9.99 445,531 89% 13M $134M (exactly $133,525,641) OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games)
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
The Forever Winter · EA $29.99 21,376 68% 641k $19M (exactly $19,231,987) Fun Dog Studios
Incursion Red River · EA older $21.99 8,300 76% 249k $5.5M (exactly $5,475,510) Games Of Tomorrow GmbH
Road to Vostok · EA $19.99 8,646 84% 259k $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) Road to Vostok Ltd.
Pass the Fear $18.99 2,985 79% 90k $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) PlayMud Studio
Revita older $16.99 1,734 83% 52k $884k (exactly $883,820) BenStar
Black Ice · EA older $19.99 515 95% 15k $309k (exactly $308,846) Nonadecimal Creative, Super Duper Garre… (Nonadecimal Creative, Super Duper Garrett Cooper)
Last Group Out older $9.99 566 81% 17k $170k (exactly $169,630) Woodland Development
CyberCorp $14.99 351 75% 11k $158k (exactly $157,845) Megame LLC
Dustland · EA $22.99 100 69% 3.0k $69k (exactly $68,970) RedPad Games
Atomic Exile · EA $14.99 120 79% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,964) Inferno Muse Interactive
Schism $11.99 140 96% 4.2k $50k (exactly $50,358) Fami
Containment Initiative 2 $14.99 89 85% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,023) Gwyn Games LLC

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