Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Open World
Should I ship an Open World Hero Shooter?
Hero Shooter + Open World
Only 19 developers shipped an Open World Hero Shooter 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, Superhero Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $180, ×0.1 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 34 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper, while revenue is up 560% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $179 (exactly $179) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 5% | $156k (exactly $155,800) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 560% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Open World
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Hero Shooter, Open World; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 1,091 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hero Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + MedievalLong shot
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + SuperheroPoor odds
- + Battle RoyalePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
Comparable games
Gears 5 2019 · $19M 
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M 
AXYOS 2018 · $244k 
Superhero Simulator 2025 · EA · $156k 
Fossilfuel 2021 · $69k | 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 |
| | Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ | older | $29.99 | 15,372 71% | 461k | $14M (exactly $13,830,188) | PopCap |
| | AXYOS | older | $4.99 | 1,629 52% | 49k | $244k (exactly $243,861) | Axyos Games |
| | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
| | Fossilfuel | older | $14.99 | 153 70% | 4.6k | $69k (exactly $68,804) | DangerousBob Studio LLC |
 | Deadrock Redemption 2 | $14.99 | 123 86% | 3.7k | $55k (exactly $55,313) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | Precursors | older | $14.99 | 72 76% | 2.2k | $32k (exactly $32,378) | Deep Shadows |
 | Avium | older | $29.99 | 26 76% | 780 | $23k (exactly $23,392) | The Robot |
 | Witch The Bloodlines | older | $14.99 | 27 40% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Kerim Kumbasar |
 | WarOfGods 2 | $29.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $12k (exactly $11,696) | Mensa World | |
 | Deadrock Salvation | $9.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,389) | Ghost Machine | |
 | Arachnoid | $4.99 | 12 33% | 360 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Horrid Vision LLC | |
 | Zombies In Valkeala | $2.99 | 15 66% | 450 | $1.3k (exactly $1,346) | Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software | |
 | Big Theft Valkeala 3 Revenge | $2.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) | Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software | |
 | Astranded | $14.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Tim S. | |
 | Cartoon Crime | · EA | $4.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | BuBa Games |
 | Mary Jane | · EA | $10.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $659 (exactly $659) | EBOES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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