Do I ship it?

Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Top-Down Shooter

Of 38 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter 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.. 49 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 49 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 49 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $1.5k → $2.6k → $90 → $299 → $450 → $239 (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $959 (exactly $959)
Top 5% $14k (exactly $14,393)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 147
Announced 49
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 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
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, Top-Down Shooter; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arena Shooter, Shooter
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, Cute, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 496 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $950, 1 in 20 over $14k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok 2024 · $1.9M Mega City Force 2023 · $130k Iron Core: Mech Survivor 2025 · $74k KUNKUN Defender 2024 · $74k Grand Pigeon's Duty 2016 · $54k
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
Mega City Force older $14.99 289 76% 8.7k $130k (exactly $129,963) Undreamed Games
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
Grand Pigeon's Duty older $3.99 448 76% 13k $54k (exactly $53,626) WolfgangIs
SEX with HITLER: 2069 older $3.99 228 75% 6.8k $27k (exactly $27,292) Adolf Games
Zombie Survivals [18+]🧟‍♀️🔞 older $3.99 180 61% 5.4k $22k (exactly $21,546) Pirates Of The Digital Sea
The Lord of the Parties older $15.99 38 68% 1.1k $18k (exactly $18,229) Magic Cube, Dizcon
Krosfighter older $9.99 57 64% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Doryah Games
HoverGrease 2 $19.99 24 83% 720 $14k (exactly $14,393) Altergaze
Touhou Brawl $11.99 39 51% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) FIVE DUCK GAMES
Idle Zombie Wave: Premium $7.99 21 38% 630 $5.0k (exactly $5,034) Ryki Studio
HougekiShoujo $3.99 19 89% 570 $2.3k (exactly $2,274) チーム魔愚路, TeamMAGURO
Harpoon Arena $5.99 10 90% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) FairGoose
Compadrone: Land Wars $4.99 12 91% 360 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) Seam Entertainment
Rip & Tear $4.90 10 70% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,470) CJ
Monstergasm $4.99 7 57% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Red Sasori
Armed Animals RPG $15.99 2 100% 60 $959 (exactly $959) Strejda Jenda Productions

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