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Should I ship a Horror Twin Stick Shooter?
Twin Stick Shooter + Horror
Of 22 developers who shipped a Horror Twin Stick 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.. 48 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×1222 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 48 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $20,380) |
| Top 5% | $580k (exactly $580,314) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 93 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 85% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Twin Stick Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Horror
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Twin Stick Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Top-Down Shooter, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 6,579 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Twin Stick Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Looter ShooterPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
- + 2D FighterPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hatred | older | $5.99 | 25,770 84% | 773k | $4.6M (exactly $4,630,869) | Destructive Creations |
| | Dead Estate | older | $14.99 | 5,778 95% | 173k | $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) | Milkbar Lads |
| | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
| | POSTAL Redux | older | $8.99 | 6,745 92% | 202k | $1.8M (exactly $1,819,126) | Running With Scissors |
| | West of Dead | older | $19.99 | 1,289 76% | 39k | $773k (exactly $773,013) | Upstream Arcade |
| | BDSM: Big Drunk Satanic Massacre | older | $19.99 | 1,114 87% | 33k | $668k (exactly $668,066) | Big Way Games |
| | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
| | Hell is Others | older | $14.99 | 991 73% | 30k | $446k (exactly $445,653) | Strelka Games, Yonder |
| | Splatter - Zombiecalypse Now | older | $6.99 | 2,098 89% | 63k | $440k (exactly $439,951) | Dreamworlds |
| | Tesla vs Lovecraft | older | $14.99 | 851 89% | 26k | $383k (exactly $382,695) | 10tons Ltd |
| | Donuts for Deer Teeth | $6.99 | 192 98% | 5.8k | $40k (exactly $40,262) | posmnaut, Hefty Totem, BirdLovely, Mizu… (posmnaut, Hefty Totem, BirdLovely, MizuBlackRiver, Prahno Audio) | |
| | Where the forest ends | $9.99 | 132 68% | 4.0k | $40k (exactly $39,560) | MonkeyBassGames | |
| | Horde Hunters | $6.99 | 99 86% | 3.0k | $21k (exactly $20,760) | Antti Vaihia | |
| | Cthulhu's Reach: Devil Reef | $9.99 | 68 80% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $20,380) | The Fine Arc | |
| | When the Light Dies | $4.99 | 80 71% | 2.4k | $12k (exactly $11,976) | Electric Monkeys, Secret Level Studios | |
| | Roll The Bones | · EA | $9.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Shrimp Industries |
| | The Zebra-Man! | $14.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Zerouno Games, Thunder Zebra | |
| | DOWNMOUSE | $3.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $3.0k (exactly $2,992) | WobblyHandStudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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