Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Simulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Simulation Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Simulation

Of 39 developers who shipped a Simulation 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $8.6M, ×5756 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 56 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 56 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Simulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $3.3k → $628 → $8.2k → $79k → $1.8k (still earning) → $330 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Simulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,083)
Top 5% $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 102
Announced 56
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 down 65% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Simulation
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, Simulation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Shooter, Survival, Action
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 72,799 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $8.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

PAYDAY 2 2013 · $134M Escape from Tarkov 2025 · $84M EVERSPACE™ 2 2023 · $18M ZERO Sievert 2024 · $8.6M Starpoint Gemini 3 2020 · $683k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PAYDAY 2 older $9.99 445,531 89% 13M $134M (exactly $133,525,641) OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games)
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
EVERSPACE™ 2 older $49.99 12,040 85% 361k $18M (exactly $18,056,388) ROCKFISH Games
ZERO Sievert $19.99 14,378 84% 431k $8.6M (exactly $8,622,487) CABO Studio
Starpoint Gemini 3 older $29.99 759 49% 23k $683k (exactly $682,872) Little Green Men Games
The Brew Barons older $21.99 828 75% 25k $546k (exactly $546,232) Lifetap Studios
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
Urge · EA older $17.99 499 90% 15k $269k (exactly $269,310) EnDrew
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
BULT: Hunting simulator · EA $9.99 869 87% 26k $260k (exactly $260,439) Nordrise
Blood Running $16.99 198 68% 5.9k $101k (exactly $100,921) Dead Unicorn
Pawn Planet $9.99 280 71% 8.4k $84k (exactly $83,916) Gambol Games
Grim $19.99 131 53% 3.9k $79k (exactly $78,561) Spoonfed Interactive
Silent North · EA $19.99 100 29% 3.0k $60k (exactly $59,970) Combat Waffle Studios
Atomic Exile · EA $14.99 120 79% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,964) Inferno Muse Interactive
Raise Your Tribe · EA $9.99 57 52% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Primeval Forest Studios

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