Do I ship it?

GamesGun CustomizationGun Customization + Modern

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Modern-Day Gun Customization game?

Gun Customization + Modern

Only 18 developers shipped a Modern-Day Gun Customization game 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, Forefront, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 38 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $14k, ×22 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $780; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2558 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 38 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 22.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 70% on the market, 38 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Gun Customization + Modern
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $820k → $628 → $14k → $3.1k → $13k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Gun Customization + Modern: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $776 (exactly $776)
Median $14k (exactly $13,941)
Top 25% $58k (exactly $57,571)
Top 5% $1.6M (exactly $1,606,346)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 52
Announced 38
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 70% on the market, supply 250% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 31%, 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.

Gun Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Modern
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
Gun Customization; all of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Shooter
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 4,265 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $780, median $14k, 1 in 4 over $57k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $780. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Gun Customization with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Tower DefenseFair26 devs · median $958 · 32 announced
  2. + DystopianPoor odds16 devs · median $51k · 58 announced
  3. + Immersive SimPoor odds12 devs · median $25k · 44 announced
  4. + BuildingPoor odds13 devs · median $16k · 39 announced
  5. + Survival HorrorPoor odds26 devs · median $14k · 55 announced
  6. + MilitaryPoor odds50 devs · median $13k · 126 announced
  7. + StealthPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $11k · 92 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 32 announced
  10. + Resource ManagementPoor odds28 devs · median $11k · 71 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $9.1k · 64 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds54 devs · median $8.1k · 162 announced

All 93 pairs on the Gun Customization page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ready or Not older $49.99 265,219 79% 8.0M $398M (exactly $397,748,934) VOID Interactive
Gray Zone Warfare · EA older $39.99 69,146 72% 2.1M $83M (exactly $82,954,456) MADFINGER Games, a.s.
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® older $59.99 43,229 79% 1.3M $78M (exactly $77,799,231) Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studio… (Infinity Ward, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Raven Software)
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 older $39.99 12,781 83% 383k $15M (exactly $15,333,366) CI Games
Forefront $27.99 1,913 84% 57k $1.6M (exactly $1,606,346) Triangle Factory
Breachers™ older $19.99 1,368 83% 41k $820k (exactly $820,390) Triangle Factory
Dagger Directive $19.99 802 83% 24k $481k (exactly $480,959) Arcane Alpacas LLC
Alpha Response · EA $19.99 788 77% 24k $473k (exactly $472,564) Ultimo Ratio Games
Zero Caliber 2 Remastered $24.99 433 79% 13k $325k (exactly $324,620) XREAL Games
Libertine: King of Hearts $19.99 96 85% 2.9k $58k (exactly $57,571) Hasnotalent Media
BURNED HORIZONS · EA $44.99 29 34% 870 $39k (exactly $39,141) BURNED HORIZONS STUDIO
Typing Break $8.99 96 80% 2.9k $26k (exactly $25,891) Tholus
Seven Cities · EA $14.99 32 87% 960 $14k (exactly $14,390) IMV Studio
Star Rift Saga $14.99 31 96% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Studio Vela LLC
Shadows of Soldiers $9.99 45 75% 1.4k $13k (exactly $13,486) Ghost in the Wire

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