Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Sandbox

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sandbox Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Sandbox

Of 33 developers who shipped a Sandbox 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.. 54 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×1925 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 54 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 54 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Sandbox
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $539 → $359 → $5.5k → $2.3k → $3.9k (still earning) → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Sandbox: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,338)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,590)
Top 5% $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 87
Announced 54
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 30% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Sandbox
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Survival, Action
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 44,949 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $2.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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

Deadside 2024 · $26M PIONER 2025 · EA · $2.9M Survive the Nights 2025 · $2.8M DeadPoly 2022 · EA · $1.6M Project L33T: Founders Edition 2026 · $315k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deadside $24.99 34,560 76% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,909,632) Bad Pixel
PIONER · EA $29.99 3,205 62% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,883,538) GFAGAMES
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
DeadPoly · EA older $9.99 5,384 78% 162k $1.6M (exactly $1,613,585) TFL Games
Project L33T: Founders Edition $19.99 525 47% 16k $315k (exactly $314,842) Targetpoint Interactive, Holmgard Games
Urge · EA older $17.99 499 90% 15k $269k (exactly $269,310) EnDrew
Heat Death: Survival Train · EA $11.99 709 77% 21k $255k (exactly $255,027) Mass Game Devs
LIFE EFFECT Survival · EA $14.99 488 85% 15k $219k (exactly $219,454) LIFE EFFECT
Nuclear Epoch $14.99 487 78% 15k $219k (exactly $219,004) Cat Play Studio
Fargone · EA older $11.99 527 70% 16k $190k (exactly $189,562) RedDot Games
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Duneborn $11.99 35 51% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,590) A.P Games
CHEMISTS: Dead Zone · EA $15.99 24 62% 720 $12k (exactly $11,513) RPAX GAMING

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