Do I ship it?

Games › Level Editor › Level Editor + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Shoot 'Em Up?

Level Editor + Shoot 'Em Up

Only 10 developers shipped a Level Editor Shoot 'Em Up 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, INJECTION, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.3k, ×3.8 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 15 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 15 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Level Editor + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Level Editor + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $598 (exactly $598)
Top 5% $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 42
Announced 15
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 10% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Level Editor, Shoot 'Em Up
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 90% positive over 41 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $590, 1 in 20 over $2.3k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 15 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Multiple EndingsFair17 devs · median $8.1k · 23 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair12 devs · median $7.6k · 14 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  4. + Time AttackFair12 devs · median $748 · 14 announced
  5. + IdlerFair19 devs · median $719 · 12 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair51 devs · median $598 · 62 announced
  7. + AutomationLong shot27 devs · median $300 · 32 announced
  8. + TransportationPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  9. + TrainsPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 11 announced
  10. + MilitaryPoor odds22 devs · median $43k · 46 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds20 devs · median $24k · 50 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds36 devs · median $19k · 111 announced

All 136 pairs on the Level Editor page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hunt Down The Freeman 2018 · $1.1M Wee Tanks! 2023 · $164k Soundodger+ 2013 · $162k CounterAttack: Uprising 2019 · $122k Soundodger 2 2023 · $111k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hunt Down The Freeman older $9.99 3,785 54% 114k $1.1M (exactly $1,134,364) Royal Rudius Entertainment
Wee Tanks! older $9.99 548 90% 16k $164k (exactly $164,236) Studio Kit
Soundodger+ older $7.99 676 90% 20k $162k (exactly $162,037) Studio Bean
CounterAttack: Uprising older $14.99 272 90% 8.2k $122k (exactly $122,318) Relative Games
Soundodger 2 older $19.99 185 95% 5.6k $111k (exactly $110,944) Studio Bean
Double Kick Heroes older $19.99 151 82% 4.5k $91k (exactly $90,555) Headbang Club
Tadpole Treble older $4.99 221 96% 6.6k $33k (exactly $33,084) BitFinity
Masked Forces 2: Mystic Demons older $4.99 67 73% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,030) FreezeNova
Gravity Ace older $7.99 34 97% 1.0k $8.2k (exactly $8,150) Crowfriend, John Watson
Hover Attack older $17.99 14 92% 420 $7.6k (exactly $7,556) Mindware Co.,Ltd.
INJECTION $7.99 10 70% 300 $2.4k (exactly $2,397) ButterCorp
Evoids $9.99 5 100% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) Mike Diskett
Free-Bees $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) Alex Williams, Lloyd May
Blocks and Bones $4.99 3 66% 90 $449 (exactly $449) HawkSandwich
Save New York 2030 $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Black Belt Logic LLC
Lethal Dose · EA $0.99 12 100% 360 $356 (exactly $356) Fraser Hislop
Petrix $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Dams-Labs
Peekablock · EA $5.99 1 100% 30 $180 (exactly $180) Goose Gang Games
Steel Crawlers $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Artcodeup
Gun Swinger $15.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Cold North Games

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