Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Procedural Generation

Of 42 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 92 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 $3.1k, ×2.1 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×198 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 92 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 250% on the market, 92 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $89k → $5.8k → $420 → $16k → $2.9k → $3.1k → $1.8k (still earning) → $95k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $22,438)
Top 5% $296k (exactly $296,352)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 95
Announced 92
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 250% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 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
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Procedural Generation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 20,765 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Online Co-OpPoor odds54 devs · median $25k · 136 announced
  7. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  8. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  9. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  11. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  12. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M LORT 2026 · EA · $1.8M DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION 2023 · $1.1M Soundfall 2022 · $896k
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
Magicraft $15.99 15,051 92% 452k $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) Wave Games
LORT · EA $14.99 3,933 77% 118k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,670) Big Distraction
DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION older $2.99 12,437 94% 373k $1.1M (exactly $1,115,599) Agafonoff
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
Revita older $16.99 1,734 83% 52k $884k (exactly $883,820) BenStar
RIFTSTORM · EA $14.99 659 70% 20k $296k (exactly $296,352) Confiction Labs, Agate
Nienix: Cosmic Warfare older $19.99 336 87% 10k $201k (exactly $201,499) HolmCom
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
AFTERBLAST · EA $14.99 223 76% 6.7k $100k (exactly $100,283) Lumino Games
Fracture Point $19.99 158 81% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Kyrylo Burlaka
Hunters Inc $14.99 155 56% 4.7k $70k (exactly $69,704) WYLDERZONE
Second Sun $19.99 115 69% 3.5k $69k (exactly $68,966) Grey Wolf Entertainment
Schism $11.99 140 96% 4.2k $50k (exactly $50,358) Fami
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios

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