Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Level Editor

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Shooter?

Shooter + Level Editor

Of 43 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 87 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×460 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 87 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 87 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Level Editor
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 43
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $22k → $1.5k → $1.8k → $35k → $719 → $449 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Level Editor: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 43
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $23,077)
Top 5% $289k (exactly $288,804)
Developers, 2 yr 43
Released games 183
Announced 87
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 down 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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
Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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, Level Editor; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Combat
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 62% positive over 8,074 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $450, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $280k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 6 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront older $34.99 32,183 85% 965k $34M (exactly $33,782,495) Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number older $14.99 69,423 94% 2.1M $31M (exactly $31,219,523) Dennaton Games
DUSK older $19.99 22,073 97% 662k $13M (exactly $13,237,178) David Szymanski
Severed Steel older $24.99 8,880 95% 266k $6.7M (exactly $6,657,336) Greylock Studio
GoreBox older $8.99 23,130 84% 694k $6.2M (exactly $6,238,161) F2Games
Far Cry® 2 older $9.99 17,359 75% 521k $5.2M (exactly $5,202,492) Ubisoft Montreal
Door Kickers older $19.99 8,041 94% 241k $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) KillHouse Games
Ion Fury older $24.99 5,649 93% 169k $4.2M (exactly $4,235,055) Voidpoint, LLC
Prodeus older $24.99 5,505 92% 165k $4.1M (exactly $4,127,098) Bounding Box Software Inc.
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
s&box $9.99 5,118 46% 154k $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) Facepunch Studios
Wizordum $19.99 880 91% 26k $528k (exactly $527,736) Emberheart Games
Haydee 3 $29.99 321 84% 9.6k $289k (exactly $288,804) Haydee Interactive
Shotgun Cop Man $9.99 633 96% 19k $190k (exactly $189,710) DeadToast Entertainment
Block Fortress 2 $19.99 264 81% 7.9k $158k (exactly $158,321) Foursaken Media
Plastic Battlegrounds · EA $9.99 281 89% 8.4k $84k (exactly $84,216) Simulated Minds
Hell of an Office $14.99 121 89% 3.6k $54k (exactly $54,414) 43 Studios
Only Lead Can Stop Them $9.99 144 78% 4.3k $43k (exactly $43,157) Warcry Interactive
Voxile · EA $17.99 78 69% 2.3k $42k (exactly $42,097) VoxRay Games, Inc.
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade

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