Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Incremental

Of 39 developers who shipped an Incremental 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.. 36 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 36 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 36 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.3k → $298 → $628 → $898 → $3.7k (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $4.6k (exactly $4,641)
Top 5% $65k (exactly $64,728)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 75
Announced 36
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 200% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up, Incremental; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Action, Bullet Hell
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,844 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $630, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different second tag, 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. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  6. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  7. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  8. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  9. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  10. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  11. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced
  12. + Visual NovelPoor odds11 devs · median $5.8k · 12 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Talented 2024 · $265k Mad Bullets 2016 · $120k KUNKUN Defender 2024 · $74k Ancient Cultivatrix 2025 · $65k Nebulock 2025 · $52k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Talented $5.99 1,475 91% 44k $265k (exactly $265,058) TurtleFox Games
Mad Bullets older $14.99 266 92% 8.0k $120k (exactly $119,620) isTom Games Kft.
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
Ancient Cultivatrix $8.99 240 67% 7.2k $65k (exactly $64,728) 五条虾仁(5 shrimps)
Nebulock $2.99 583 86% 17k $52k (exactly $52,295) LostVolBytes
Vostok Inc. older $14.99 96 60% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Nosebleed Interactive
Orb Breaker $4.99 118 61% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,665) Aarimous and Thornity
Soba's Gunpaw $2.99 130 93% 3.9k $12k (exactly $11,661) Evrac Studio
Around The Core $3.99 95 86% 2.9k $11k (exactly $11,372) draftentropy
Tale of Immortal Ring $4.99 51 66% 1.5k $7.6k (exactly $7,635) Solo Gaming
Shoot The Barrels $1.99 103 72% 3.1k $6.1k (exactly $6,149) BATTLE LAB
Blastermancer $9.99 18 100% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) NeoGeeJoe
Moorhuhn 2 $4.99 31 96% 930 $4.6k (exactly $4,641) Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio

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