Do I ship it?

Games › Gun Customization › Gun Customization + Survival Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Gun Customization Survival Horror?

Gun Customization + Survival Horror

Of 26 developers who shipped a Gun Customization Survival Horror 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.. 55 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $14k, ×23 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2336 the market median. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 55 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 22.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 220% on the market, 55 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Gun Customization + Survival Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $20k → $20k → $14k → $2.9k → $40k → $61k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Gun Customization + Survival Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $208 (exactly $208)
Median $14k (exactly $14,386)
Top 25% $177k (exactly $176,523)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,466,866)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 58
Announced 55
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 220% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Survival Horror; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Dark
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 51% positive over 62,046 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $14k, 1 in 4 over $170k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Gun Customization with a different second tag, 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. + ModernPoor odds18 devs · median $14k · 38 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

Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M World War Z 2021 · $22M Level Zero: Extraction 2025 · $1.5M CONVRGENCE 2024 · EA · $1.2M Death in the Water 2 2023 · $780k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
World War Z older $29.99 24,897 82% 747k $22M (exactly $22,399,831) Saber Interactive Inc
Level Zero: Extraction $19.99 2,446 50% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,466,866) Doghowl Games
CONVRGENCE · EA older $24.99 1,562 88% 47k $1.2M (exactly $1,171,031) Monkey-With-a-Bomb
Death in the Water 2 older $14.99 1,734 83% 52k $780k (exactly $779,780) Lighthouse Games Studio
Echoes of the Living · EA $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) MoonGlint Studio
Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone · EA $39.99 528 62% 16k $633k (exactly $633,442) The Farm 51
Night Raider older $5.99 1,908 85% 57k $343k (exactly $342,868) TSUKUYOMIC
Z.O.N.A: Origin $19.99 540 83% 16k $324k (exactly $323,838) AGaming+
Iron Blight $12.49 700 93% 21k $262k (exactly $262,290) Ronesans Interactive
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
Lust 'n Dead 🔞 $9.99 212 66% 6.4k $64k (exactly $63,536) Octo Games
D.E.C.A.Y. · EA $24.99 82 84% 2.5k $61k (exactly $61,475) AGaming+
Atomic Exile · EA $14.99 120 79% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,964) Inferno Muse Interactive

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