Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Idler

Only 16 developers shipped an Idler Looter Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Dark Hunting Ground, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is up 3405% on the market; 8 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 3405% on the market, 8 announced, ×1.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.1k → $119 → $3.5k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,526)
Top 5% $300k (exactly $300,459)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 33
Announced 8
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $2.99

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 3405% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Incremental, Loot
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,351 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $300k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 8 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  4. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  7. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  8. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  11. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced
  12. + RobotsPoor odds23 devs · median $6.0k · 32 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dark Hunting Ground 2025 · $300k miniBONG 2023 · $264k Thunder Tank: Iron Shield 2026 · $26k Bomb Vehicle Idle Clicker 2025 · EA · $15k Farming Incremental But With Guns 2026 · $14k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dark Hunting Ground $12.99 771 92% 23k $300k (exactly $300,459) BingX
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Thunder Tank: Iron Shield $3.99 221 82% 6.6k $26k (exactly $26,454) Crazy Studio
Bomb Vehicle Idle Clicker · EA $4.99 97 73% 2.9k $15k (exactly $14,521) RimmindGame
Farming Incremental But With Guns $3.99 113 88% 3.4k $14k (exactly $13,526) Clementine Wolf Games
Lost Scale: Part One older $24.99 10 90% 300 $7.5k (exactly $7,497) Danicy
FEAR background older $9.99 23 13% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) 5K Gamers
Dead City · EA older $6.99 29 58% 870 $6.1k (exactly $6,081) Novalink
Polygeddon $2.99 61 40% 1.8k $5.5k (exactly $5,472) Digital Dreamworks, Gamesforfarm
ZAR older $9.99 17 64% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) PancakeGames
Swarm Survivor: Endless Siege $4.99 25 100% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) kamen
Dune Rancher $2.99 39 76% 1.2k $3.5k (exactly $3,498) Jestercraft
Increvaders $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Oblomoverie
DeadEndGram $1.99 9 100% 270 $537 (exactly $537) Michael Morgan
GeoLight $2.99 2 0% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Howling Wolf Games Inc.

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