Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Robots

Of 23 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×253 the market median. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 275% on the market, 32 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $300 → $1.0M → $49k → $14k → $480 → $31k (still earning) → $32k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,992)
Top 25% $32k (exactly $31,907)
Top 5% $379k (exactly $378,647)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 53
Announced 32
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 275% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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
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
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,059 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $31k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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

Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M Battle Shapers 2024 · $738k Granvir 2025 · $379k LIFE EFFECT Survival 2026 · EA · $219k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
ROBOBEAT older $19.99 1,708 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) Simon Fredholm
Battle Shapers $24.99 984 80% 30k $738k (exactly $737,705) Metric Empire
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
LIFE EFFECT Survival · EA $14.99 488 85% 15k $219k (exactly $219,454) LIFE EFFECT
RIG Riot $19.99 195 94% 5.9k $117k (exactly $116,941) Sage Boatman
Dreadhunter · EA older $24.99 141 77% 4.2k $106k (exactly $105,708) Trickster Arts
Linguist FPS - The Language Learning FPS older $14.99 192 71% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) Rocket Boy Games
Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate older $19.99 109 82% 3.3k $65k (exactly $65,367) Moving Pieces Interactive
Danger Scavenger older $4.99 340 70% 10k $51k (exactly $50,898) Piotr Wolk, Star Drifters
HSS:Reload $8.99 181 71% 5.4k $49k (exactly $48,816) SmokingBear Studio
Ironsand $7.49 142 68% 4.3k $32k (exactly $31,907) Renderise
MEAT TRAIN · EA $15.00 69 91% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,050) Kiwiforge, Timothy Vincent
Ultra Mega Cats · EA $11.99 70 74% 2.1k $25k (exactly $25,179) Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drak… (Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drakkar Games)
Raise Your Tribe · EA $9.99 57 52% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Primeval Forest Studios
Rocket Squad: Infinity $14.99 31 22% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Jackto Studios

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