Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + Sci-fi
Of 91 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 179 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×2.5 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $6.4M, ×4293 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 179 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 25% | $88k (exactly $87,715) |
| Top 5% | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 91 |
| Released games | 224 |
| Announced | 179 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 down 80% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Loot
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 68% positive over 127,416 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 179 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Looter Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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
Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M 
Borderlands 2 2012 · $126M 
Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M 
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel 2014 · $38M 
OUTRIDERS 2021 · $28M | 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 |
| | Borderlands 2 | older | $19.99 | 210,364 89% | 6.3M | $126M (exactly $126,155,291) | Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (L… (Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Borderlands 4 | $69.99 | 57,874 59% | 1.7M | $122M (exactly $121,518,038) | Gearbox Software | |
| | Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel | older | $39.99 | 31,771 79% | 953k | $38M (exactly $38,115,669) | 2K Australia, Gearbox Software, Aspyr (… (2K Australia, Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | OUTRIDERS | older | $19.99 | 46,146 66% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $27,673,756) | People Can Fly |
 | The Forever Winter | · EA | $29.99 | 21,376 68% | 641k | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) | Fun Dog Studios |
 | EVERSPACE™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 12,040 85% | 361k | $18M (exactly $18,056,388) | ROCKFISH Games |
 | Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced | older | $29.99 | 18,217 81% | 547k | $16M (exactly $16,389,835) | Gearbox Software, Blind Squirrel Games |
 | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
 | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | John Carpenter's Toxic Commando | $39.99 | 6,274 72% | 188k | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) | Saber Interactive | |
 | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
 | Wildgate | $29.99 | 5,032 77% | 151k | $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) | Moonshot Games | |
 | SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada | $39.99 | 3,303 40% | 99k | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) | Game Studio Inc. | |
 | Mycopunk | · EA | $14.99 | 4,081 88% | 122k | $1.8M (exactly $1,835,226) | Pigeons at Play |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | Battle Shapers | $24.99 | 984 80% | 30k | $738k (exactly $737,705) | Metric Empire |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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