Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Shooter?

Shooter + Investigation

Of 56 developers who shipped an Investigation 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.. 118 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×488 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 118 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 440% on the market, 118 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 56
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.2k → $896 → $1.6k → $479 → $719 → $4.7k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 56
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $750 (exactly $750)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,479)
Top 5% $307k (exactly $306,627)
Developers, 2 yr 56
Released games 134
Announced 118
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 440% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Investigation
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

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, Investigation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 13,354 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $750, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $300k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 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

Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M Species: Unknown 2025 · EA · $2.8M The Sinking City 2 2026 · $2.1M HellSign 2021 · $1.3M USAC: Code Breach 2022 · $480k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deceive Inc. older $19.99 4,755 84% 143k $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) Sweet Bandits Studios
Species: Unknown · EA $9.99 9,437 94% 283k $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) WanadevStudio
The Sinking City 2 $49.99 1,410 83% 42k $2.1M (exactly $2,114,577) Frogwares
HellSign older $19.99 2,147 67% 64k $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) Ballistic Interactive
USAC: Code Breach older $14.99 1,067 91% 32k $480k (exactly $479,830) Questions Factory
Responding · EA $24.99 409 45% 12k $307k (exactly $306,627) Visionary Studios
Killing Time: Resurrected $24.99 320 92% 9.6k $240k (exactly $239,904) Nightdive Studios, 3DO
BACKROOMS: APPREHENSION $2.99 1,371 83% 41k $123k (exactly $122,979) DMNT Interactive
Demonsomnia · EA older $13.99 278 33% 8.3k $117k (exactly $116,677) Serhat Akgul
Dread X Collection 4: The Hunt older $9.99 379 88% 11k $114k (exactly $113,586) DreadXP, David Szymanski, Christopher Y… (DreadXP, David Szymanski, Christopher Yabsley, KIRA, Philisophic Games, Dan McGrath, TorpleDook, Abbey 'Scruncho' Smith, Vidas Salavejus, Redact Games, Wayward Preacher, Mr. Pink, Aaron Wise)
Schizo Dark $39.99 87 95% 2.6k $104k (exactly $104,374) Galactic Geckon
Miami Paradise 2 $14.99 131 94% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Dreadweave · EA $9.99 105 72% 3.2k $31k (exactly $31,468) DeadGrass Games
Evil Awaits™ $16.99 49 75% 1.5k $25k (exactly $24,975) Chai Games
Into The Darkness VR · EA $19.99 35 37% 1.1k $21k (exactly $20,990) Cosmos Games, 9 lives

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