Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Loot
Should I ship a Loot Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + Loot
Of 88 developers who shipped a Loot Looter 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.. 171 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.5k, ×3.7 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×819 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 171 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.5k (exactly $5,506) |
| Top 25% | $87k (exactly $86,913) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 88 |
| Released games | 212 |
| Announced | 171 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Looter Shooter
- effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter, Loot; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 104,103 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 171 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MechsFair
- + Vehicular CombatFair
- + IdlerFair
- + 3D PlatformerLong shot
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
Comparable games
Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M 
Borderlands 3 2020 · $230M 
Risk of Rain 2 2020 · $180M 
Borderlands 2 2012 · $126M 
Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deep Rock Galactic | older | $29.99 | 303,142 97% | 9.1M | $273M (exactly $272,736,857) | Ghost Ship Games |
| | Borderlands 3 | older | $59.99 | 127,847 81% | 3.8M | $230M (exactly $230,086,246) | Gearbox Software |
| | Risk of Rain 2 | older | $24.99 | 240,001 93% | 7.2M | $180M (exactly $179,928,750) | Hopoo Games |
| | Borderlands 2 | older | $19.99 | 210,364 89% | 6.3M | $126M (exactly $126,155,291) | Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (L… (Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Borderlands 4 | $69.99 | 57,874 59% | 1.7M | $122M (exactly $121,518,038) | Gearbox Software | |
 | Gunfire Reborn | older | $19.99 | 88,536 93% | 2.7M | $53M (exactly $53,095,039) | Gunfire Reborn Studio |
 | Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel | older | $39.99 | 31,771 79% | 953k | $38M (exactly $38,115,669) | 2K Australia, Gearbox Software, Aspyr (… (2K Australia, Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Linux)) |
 | Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 | older | $29.99 | 32,600 79% | 978k | $29M (exactly $29,330,220) | Ubisoft |
 | OUTRIDERS | older | $19.99 | 46,146 66% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $27,673,756) | People Can Fly |
 | Shadow Warrior 2 | older | $29.99 | 24,120 87% | 724k | $22M (exactly $21,700,764) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | ZERO Sievert | $19.99 | 14,378 84% | 431k | $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) | CABO Studio | |
 | Road to Vostok | · EA | $19.99 | 8,646 84% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) | Road to Vostok Ltd. |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | The Midnight Walkers | · EA | $19.99 | 1,479 54% | 44k | $887k (exactly $886,956) | Oneway Ticket Studio |
 | Relic Hunters Legend | $19.99 | 1,101 65% | 33k | $660k (exactly $660,270) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Grind Survivors | $12.99 | 1,332 69% | 40k | $519k (exactly $519,080) | Pushka Studios | |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | Granvir | $14.99 | 842 90% | 25k | $379k (exactly $378,647) | Airborne Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.