Games › Shooter › Shooter + Life Sim
Should I ship a Life Sim Shooter?
Shooter + Life Sim
Of 31 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 58 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $570; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×576 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 58 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $564 (exactly $564) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $42,857) |
| Top 5% | $362k (exactly $362,008) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 58 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, FPS, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 8,307 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $570. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered 2021 · $3.6M 
ANEURISM IV 2025 · $1.7M 
CUSTOM MECH WARS 2023 · $844k 
Sonicomi 2016 · $577k 
Zombie Graveyard Simulator 2025 · $362k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered | older | $29.99 | 3,968 73% | 119k | $3.6M (exactly $3,570,010) | Deep Silver Volition, Sperasoft |
| | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet | |
| | CUSTOM MECH WARS | older | $49.99 | 563 41% | 17k | $844k (exactly $844,331) | D3PUBLISHER |
| | Sonicomi | older | $34.99 | 550 89% | 17k | $577k (exactly $577,335) | Nitroplus |
| | Zombie Graveyard Simulator | $14.99 | 805 89% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | threeW | |
 | Dude Simulator 2 | older | $4.99 | 1,763 56% | 53k | $264k (exactly $263,921) | Kiddy |
 | CURE - A Hospital Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 830 86% | 25k | $249k (exactly $248,751) | Sentinel Games |
 | Virtual Hunter | $24.99 | 173 71% | 5.2k | $130k (exactly $129,698) | Korpi Games Oy | |
 | Survival Classic | older | $12.99 | 310 66% | 9.3k | $121k (exactly $120,807) | TB Games |
 | Tru Or Die | older | $9.99 | 336 52% | 10k | $101k (exactly $100,699) | Tru Hunnit |
 | Pawn Planet | $9.99 | 280 71% | 8.4k | $84k (exactly $83,916) | Gambol Games | |
 | Dino Ramen Express | · EA | $14.99 | 160 72% | 4.8k | $72k (exactly $71,952) | ANTIGames |
 | Shooting Range Simulator | $11.99 | 164 74% | 4.9k | $59k (exactly $58,991) | Buffed Games | |
 | Medic: Pacific War | · EA | $9.99 | 143 70% | 4.3k | $43k (exactly $42,857) | Hypnotic Ants |
 | Zombie Chef | $9.99 | 40 50% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,988) | Voidy | |
 | MagicCar of Delicious | $9.99 | 26 76% | 780 | $7.8k (exactly $7,792) | YINGGUO GAME |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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