Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Space

Of 45 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 73 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $4.5M, ×3022 the market median. Revenue is up 230% on the market; 73 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 230% on the market, 73 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $89k → $713 → $60 → $539 → $449 → $84k → $537 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,581)
Top 5% $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 102
Announced 73
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.99

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 230% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Space
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 66% positive over 79,689 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $4.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 73 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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

Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel 2014 · $38M EVERSPACE™ 2 2023 · $18M Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M
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 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))
EVERSPACE™ 2 older $49.99 12,040 85% 361k $18M (exactly $18,056,388) ROCKFISH Games
Marauders · EA older $29.99 13,505 68% 405k $12M (exactly $12,150,448) Small Impact Games
Risk of Rain Returns older $14.99 24,795 89% 744k $11M (exactly $11,150,312) Hopoo Games
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
Mycopunk · EA $14.99 4,081 88% 122k $1.8M (exactly $1,835,226) Pigeons at Play
Starpoint Gemini 3 older $29.99 759 49% 23k $683k (exactly $682,872) Little Green Men Games
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
Astroloot · EA $6.99 587 92% 18k $123k (exactly $123,094) Andreas Hager Gaming
Star Vortex · EA $24.99 154 84% 4.6k $115k (exactly $115,454) Zorg Games
Pawn Planet $9.99 280 71% 8.4k $84k (exactly $83,916) Gambol Games
HSS:Reload $8.99 181 71% 5.4k $49k (exactly $48,816) SmokingBear Studio
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios

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