Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Roguelike

Of 32 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 20 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $660, ×0.5 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. Revenue is down 80% on the market, with 20 games announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 20 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $1.5k → $2.6k → $239 → $3.1k → $450 → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $659 (exactly $659)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,034)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $73,814)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 87
Announced 20
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 down 80% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter, Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, PvE
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 68% positive over 1,543 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $660, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hero Shooter with a different second tag, 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

Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok 2024 · $1.9M Wild Bastards 2024 · $647k Serious Sam: Shatterverse 2026 · $389k Mega City Force 2023 · $130k Black Gunner Wukong 2024 · $125k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok older $9.99 6,180 88% 185k $1.9M (exactly $1,852,146) Noxfall Studios
Wild Bastards older $34.99 616 74% 18k $647k (exactly $646,615) Blue Manchu
Serious Sam: Shatterverse $19.99 648 50% 19k $389k (exactly $388,606) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Mega City Force older $14.99 289 76% 8.7k $130k (exactly $129,963) Undreamed Games
Black Gunner Wukong older $9.99 417 98% 13k $125k (exactly $124,975) Wukong
Iron Core: Mech Survivor $6.99 352 73% 11k $74k (exactly $73,814) Soda Game Studio
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games
SEX with HITLER: 2069 older $3.99 228 75% 6.8k $27k (exactly $27,292) Adolf Games
Touhou Brawl $11.99 39 51% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) FIVE DUCK GAMES
Shatterline $9.99 24 62% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Frag Lab LLC
Prison Escape Simulator $9.99 18 77% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) PEGAX Studios
Idle Zombie Wave: Premium $7.99 21 38% 630 $5.0k (exactly $5,034) Ryki Studio
Doom Survivor: Horde Rush $2.99 38 86% 1.1k $3.4k (exactly $3,409) Crazy Studio
Cyborg: Rise $7.99 13 92% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) fish world

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