Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 60 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 69 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 69 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 170% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 69 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 60
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $683 → $899 → $958 → $90 → $178 → $959 → $449 (still earning) → $3.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 60
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $21,279)
Developers, 2 yr 60
Released games 277
Announced 69
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 170% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Shoot 'Em Up
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, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 916 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $21k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

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

Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Raw Data 2017 · $2.4M BE-A Walker 2020 · $195k Acquitted 2022 · $180k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Raw Data older $39.99 2,036 81% 61k $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) Survios
BE-A Walker older $9.99 651 72% 20k $195k (exactly $195,105) Tequilabyte Studio
Acquitted older $7.95 755 96% 23k $180k (exactly $180,068) Nordic Empire Games
Wee Tanks! older $9.99 548 90% 16k $164k (exactly $164,236) Studio Kit
Warden's Will $14.99 304 70% 9.1k $137k (exactly $136,709) ELYZIO
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
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
LUST Eternal 🔞 $4.99 212 55% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,736) Octo Games
METAL SUITS: Counter-attack $9.99 71 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $21,279) Gonggamore Contents
Deadliest Pigeon $6.99 99 93% 3.0k $21k (exactly $20,760) Rusty Rex
Alien Strike: Blasting the Intruders $9.99 57 85% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Combo Game Studio
HoverGrease 2 $19.99 24 83% 720 $14k (exactly $14,393) Altergaze
CPU Invaders - 3i Atlas $4.99 77 98% 2.3k $12k (exactly $11,527) Microblast Games
Gun Reflex VR $8.99 42 61% 1.3k $11k (exactly $11,327) OBGames
Just Skill Shooter: Catacombs $9.99 17 64% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Gamesforgames
Astro Burn $9.99 13 92% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Beyond The PIxels

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