Do I ship it?

Games › Level Editor › Level Editor + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Top-Down Shooter?

Level Editor + Top-Down Shooter

Only 15 developers shipped a Level Editor Top-Down Shooter 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, Door Kickers 2: Task Force North, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 29 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 29 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Level Editor + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Level Editor + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $356 (exactly $356)
Top 25% $809 (exactly $809)
Top 5% $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 60
Announced 29
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 25% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
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, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 12,454 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $800, 1 in 20 over $9.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number 2015 · $31M Door Kickers 2: Task Force North 2025 · $9.2M Door Kickers 2014 · $4.8M No Plan B 2024 · $342k
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
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North $24.99 12,324 96% 370k $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) KillHouse Games
Door Kickers older $19.99 8,041 94% 241k $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) KillHouse Games
No Plan B older $14.99 761 86% 23k $342k (exactly $342,222) GFX47
Neon Chrome older $14.99 545 93% 16k $245k (exactly $245,086) 10tons Ltd
D'LIRIUM older $4.99 987 96% 30k $148k (exactly $147,754) B52 Development Team
DUSK '82: ULTIMATE EDITION older $6.99 383 95% 11k $80k (exactly $80,315) David Szymanski
Game of Rebirth $12.99 81 69% 2.4k $32k (exactly $31,566) ZodiacStudio
Good Knight - One-Button Bullet-Hell · EA older $14.99 57 94% 1.7k $26k (exactly $25,633) Good Knight Collective
Randotura $1.99 23 100% 690 $1.4k (exactly $1,373) blinyadebil
Arena Arcade Fest $8.99 3 100% 90 $809 (exactly $809) Oscar Ortigueira López, OrtiGames/OrtiS… (Oscar Ortigueira López, OrtiGames/OrtiSoft)
Euclid's Inferno $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) Adelpha Studio
Mod Mage Mike $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) ZilpZilp Games
Zombolion $3.99 3 100% 90 $359 (exactly $359) SP games
Lethal Dose · EA $0.99 12 100% 360 $356 (exactly $356) Fraser Hislop
Panic of the Apes · EA $1.99 3 100% 90 $179 (exactly $179) Adam Weaver
Steel Crawlers $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Artcodeup

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