Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Horror

Of 26 developers who shipped a Horror Hero 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.. 46 more are announced, ×12 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.8k against a market of $1.3k. 46 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 255% on the market, 46 announced, ×12 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + 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: $3.6k → $120 → $599 → $1.8k → $1.3k → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,750)
Top 5% $173k (exactly $173,313)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 104
Announced 46
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 255% on the market, supply 80% fewer 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hero Shooter
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Action, Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, VR
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,342 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $5.7k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×12 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hero Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SimulationLong shot31 devs · median $478 · 28 announced
  2. + Bullet HellLong shot59 devs · median $449 · 56 announced
  3. + Boomer ShooterLong shot30 devs · median $210 · 21 announced
  4. + MedievalLong shot10 devs · median $150 · 12 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds20 devs · median $7.2k · 51 announced
  6. + SuperheroPoor odds6 devs · median $6.3k · 11 announced
  7. + Battle RoyalePoor odds9 devs · median $3.6k · 29 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds22 devs · median $3.6k · 53 announced
  9. + PvPPoor odds27 devs · median $2.3k · 127 announced
  10. + PlatformerPoor odds21 devs · median $2.2k · 33 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds25 devs · median $2.1k · 68 announced
  12. + PhysicsPoor odds27 devs · median $1.6k · 34 announced

All 87 pairs on the Hero Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Gears 5 2019 · $19M Them and Us 2021 · $1.5M RIPOUT 2024 · $470k Chasm: The Rift 2022 · $277k Kvark 2024 · $276k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
Them and Us older $39.99 1,216 76% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,458,835) TendoGames Co., Ltd.
RIPOUT older $19.99 783 65% 23k $470k (exactly $469,565) Pet Project Games
Chasm: The Rift older $19.99 462 81% 14k $277k (exactly $277,061) Action Forms, General Arcade
Kvark $19.99 461 86% 14k $276k (exactly $276,462) Latest Past, Perun Creative
The Living Remain $19.99 289 79% 8.7k $173k (exactly $173,313) Five Finger Studios
illWill older $19.99 279 91% 8.4k $167k (exactly $167,316) Slava Bushuev
Devilated $19.99 163 85% 4.9k $98k (exactly $97,751) Trunka
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
Fossilfuel older $14.99 153 70% 4.6k $69k (exactly $68,804) DangerousBob Studio LLC
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
Harpagun $19.99 19 73% 570 $11k (exactly $11,394) Something Random
Gun Reflex VR $8.99 42 61% 1.3k $11k (exactly $11,327) OBGames
Luna Hollow - Dream Eater Defense $5.99 32 53% 960 $5.8k (exactly $5,750) CHARON, STUDIO CHARON, 月桂樹冠
IHAS $9.99 13 92% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) The Difference Studios
Maniac Path 3 $9.99 12 100% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Gamesforgames
HEARTDUST · EA $6.99 17 94% 510 $3.6k (exactly $3,565) Heartbyte Studios

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