Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Horror

Of 81 developers who shipped a Horror Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 115 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 39 developers shipped in the last year and 115 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 115 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $1.8k → $599 → $839 → $298 → $359 → $300 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,726)
Top 5% $421k (exactly $420,876)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 292
Announced 115
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 20% on the market, supply as many developers as 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 8,929 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 $300, 1 in 4 over $2.7k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

POSTAL: Brain Damaged 2022 · $5.7M 20 Minutes Till Dawn 2023 · $4.2M Metro Awakening 2024 · $2.7M Dead Estate 2021 · $2.6M Project Warlock 2018 · $1.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
POSTAL: Brain Damaged older $19.99 9,565 95% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,736,130) Hyperstrange, CreativeForge Games
20 Minutes Till Dawn older $4.99 27,872 90% 836k $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) flanne
Metro Awakening $29.99 3,013 73% 90k $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) Vertigo Games
Dead Estate older $14.99 5,778 95% 173k $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) Milkbar Lads
Project Warlock older $12.00 4,691 87% 141k $1.7M (exactly $1,688,760) Buckshot Software
Kill It With Fire older $12.99 4,036 95% 121k $1.6M (exactly $1,572,829) Casey Donnellan Games LLC
Valfaris older $24.99 1,782 86% 53k $1.3M (exactly $1,335,965) Steel Mantis
Death in the Water 2 older $14.99 1,734 83% 52k $780k (exactly $779,780) Lighthouse Games Studio
Angel at Dusk older $14.99 1,676 98% 50k $754k (exactly $753,697) Akiragoya
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
CRUEL $9.99 1,814 95% 54k $544k (exactly $543,656) James Dornan
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION $19.99 770 96% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) WIZNWAR, FLARB LLC
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
SealChain: Call of Blood $8.99 537 56% 16k $145k (exactly $144,829) AliveGameStudio
Missing Banban $9.99 294 92% 8.8k $88k (exactly $88,112) Simon Carny
Haunted Lands $5.99 251 77% 7.5k $45k (exactly $45,105) alevgor
Mamorukun ReCurse! $24.99 56 94% 1.7k $42k (exactly $41,983) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Zombiehood $9.99 132 86% 4.0k $40k (exactly $39,560) Weak Spots, Dead Traveler

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