Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + Perma Death
Of 21 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 46 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×1.1 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×492 the market median. Revenue is up 340% on the market; 46 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $267 (exactly $267) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) |
| Top 5% | $738k (exactly $737,705) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 46 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 340% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Procedural Generation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 10,268 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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
Roboquest 2023 · $14M 
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Crab Champions 2023 · EA · $8.0M 
Road to Vostok 2026 · EA · $5.2M 
Battle Shapers 2024 · $738k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
| | Road to Vostok | · EA | $19.99 | 8,646 84% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) | Road to Vostok Ltd. |
| | Battle Shapers | $24.99 | 984 80% | 30k | $738k (exactly $737,705) | Metric Empire | |
 | Mind | older | $17.99 | 372 69% | 11k | $201k (exactly $200,768) | WHIRLLAXY LIMITED |
 | Tankenstein | · EA | $17.99 | 238 89% | 7.1k | $128k (exactly $128,449) | Landship Games LTD |
 | Ants Took My Eyeball | older | $12.99 | 248 93% | 7.4k | $97k (exactly $96,646) | Bosmic Forge |
 | Fracture Point | $19.99 | 158 81% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Kyrylo Burlaka | |
 | Holomento | · EA older | $19.99 | 155 72% | 4.7k | $93k (exactly $92,954) | Sean Weech |
 | Schism | $11.99 | 140 96% | 4.2k | $50k (exactly $50,358) | Fami | |
 | No Time For Pants | $7.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) | Pixel Push Inc | |
 | Dread Protocol | · EA | $7.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) | Meat Lab |
 | Alone in the Stars: Survivor | $6.99 | 23 86% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | J6 Games | |
 | ASHWAKE | · EA | $14.99 | 8 62% | 240 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | Ghost Development |
 | CRAST | $5.99 | 14 35% | 420 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Qazaq Games Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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