Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Loot game?

Loot + Robots

Only 18 developers shipped a Robot Loot game 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, Far Far West, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 55 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.4k, ×8.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $18M, ×30040 the market median. Revenue is up 6290% on the market; 55 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 6290% on the market, 55 announced, ×6.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.4k → $5.4k → $2.1k → $44k → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $480 (exactly $480)
Median $5.4k (exactly $5,396)
Top 25% $75k (exactly $74,650)
Top 5% $19M (exactly $18,865,363)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 53
Announced 55
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $13.99

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 6290% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op, Action RPG
Price point
$13.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 34,376 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $5.4k, 1 in 4 over $74k, 1 in 20 over $18M.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Loot with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Far Far West · EA $19.99 31,458 95% 944k $19M (exactly $18,865,363) Evil Raptor
DAEMON X MACHINA older $49.99 6,172 85% 185k $9.3M (exactly $9,256,148) Marvelous Inc.
Meta Ghost: Breaking Show $17.99 1,497 72% 45k $808k (exactly $807,931) Scarecrow Studio
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
RIG Riot $19.99 195 94% 5.9k $117k (exactly $116,941) Sage Boatman
Linguist FPS - The Language Learning FPS older $14.99 192 71% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) Rocket Boy Games
MycoRelic · EA $14.99 166 89% 5.0k $75k (exactly $74,650) Sandy Dingo Games
Arms Evolution: ZOMBIE DESTROYER older $5.99 268 64% 8.0k $48k (exactly $48,160) Ash Game Studio
Void Marauders $13.99 106 77% 3.2k $44k (exactly $44,488) Autarca
Far Horizon $29.99 37 64% 1.1k $33k (exactly $33,289) BEACHAM Games
Raise Your Tribe · EA $9.99 57 52% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Primeval Forest Studios
Dead Oculus $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Andrew Wilker
Planet Miners $11.99 6 50% 180 $2.2k (exactly $2,158) Moon Ice Games

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