Do I ship it?

GamesGun CustomizationGun Customization + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Gun Customization game?

Gun Customization + Sci-fi

Of 94 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Gun Customization game 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.. 265 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2256 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 265 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 265 announced, ×4.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Gun Customization + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 94
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $1.1k → $1.6k → $1.2k → $6.0k → $1.6k → $1.6k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Gun Customization + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 94
Bottom 30% $390 (exactly $390)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,734)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028)
Developers, 2 yr 94
Released games 285
Announced 265
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Sci-fi
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 80,196 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $390, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $390. 6 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 265 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 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. + ModernPoor odds18 devs · median $14k · 38 announced
  7. + MilitaryPoor odds50 devs · median $13k · 126 announced
  8. + StealthPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $11k · 92 announced
  10. + MechsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 32 announced
  11. + Resource ManagementPoor odds28 devs · median $11k · 71 announced
  12. + Base BuildingPoor odds23 devs · median $9.1k · 64 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
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
The Forever Winter · EA $29.99 21,376 68% 641k $19M (exactly $19,231,987) Fun Dog Studios
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Extraction older $39.99 2,865 66% 86k $3.4M (exactly $3,437,140) Ubisoft Montreal
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier™ older $19.99 5,506 71% 165k $3.3M (exactly $3,301,948) Ubisoft Paris, Red Storm Entertainment
M.A.S.S. Builder $24.99 3,729 85% 112k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,631) Vermillion Digital
Predator: Hunting Grounds older $19.99 4,635 76% 139k $2.8M (exactly $2,779,610) IllFonic
Killsquad older $29.99 2,839 71% 85k $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) Novarama
VOID/BREAKER · EA $29.99 2,506 91% 75k $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) Stubby Games
SYNTHETIK 2 · EA older $19.99 3,202 81% 96k $1.9M (exactly $1,920,239) Flow Fire Games
SAND LAND older $59.99 1,018 86% 31k $1.8M (exactly $1,832,095) ILCA, Inc.
ERA ONE · EA $29.99 1,575 86% 47k $1.4M (exactly $1,417,028) Team Complex LTD
Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone · EA $39.99 528 62% 16k $633k (exactly $633,442) The Farm 51
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
TurretGirls $9.99 1,882 85% 56k $564k (exactly $564,035) NANAIRO ENTERPRISE
Out of Action · EA $19.99 916 77% 27k $549k (exactly $549,325) Doku Games LTD
NIMRODS · EA $9.99 1,783 85% 53k $534k (exactly $534,365) Fiveamp

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