Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Shooter?

Shooter + Interactive Fiction

Of 22 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 45 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×354 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 45 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 45 announced, ×4.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.5k → $748 → $4.5k → $2.4k → $959 → $59k (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,497)
Top 25% $31k (exactly $30,580)
Top 5% $222k (exactly $222,295)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 85
Announced 45
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 40% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Shooter, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, FPS
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 2,058 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $30k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

魔女的夜宴 2023 · $10M Mirror 2: Project X 2022 · EA · $6.6M Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo 2021 · $2.4M BLACKWOOD 2026 · $424k 突然＊恋人 2024 · $405k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
魔女的夜宴 older $34.99 9,664 98% 290k $10M (exactly $10,144,301) YUZUSOFT
Mirror 2: Project X · EA older $1.99 111,251 24% 3.3M $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs
Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo older $29.99 2,718 95% 82k $2.4M (exactly $2,445,385) ωstar, Seikei Production
BLACKWOOD $24.99 565 46% 17k $424k (exactly $423,580) AttritoM7 Productions
突然＊恋人 older $29.99 450 96% 14k $405k (exactly $404,865) SMEE
Sniper Killer $11.99 618 86% 19k $222k (exactly $222,295) Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare
Shooty Shooty Robot Invasion $9.99 353 93% 11k $106k (exactly $105,794) Bubby Darkstar
Project Songbird $14.99 195 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $87,692) FYRE Games, Conner Rush
Peppa Pig: World Adventures older $39.99 70 81% 2.1k $84k (exactly $83,979) Petoons Studio
Miami Paradise 2 $14.99 131 94% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Absolute-Full-Life $14.99 68 76% 2.0k $31k (exactly $30,580) The Only Way Out
Lurking Danger $11.99 49 65% 1.5k $18k (exactly $17,625) Farelas
Alter Evo $14.99 23 95% 690 $10k (exactly $10,343) Technical Fiction
Diddy $7.99 24 62% 720 $5.8k (exactly $5,753) GalaxyVerse
Project: Stellar Girls $4.99 32 46% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) 430Games

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