Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Top-Down Shooter

Of 83 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter 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.. 134 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 134 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 45% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 134 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 83
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $1.5k → $298 → $150 → $1.5k → $4.4k → $240 (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 83
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $22,777)
Top 5% $632k (exactly $632,067)
Developers, 2 yr 83
Released games 179
Announced 134
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 down 45% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Top-Down Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Action Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 96,162 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $540, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $630k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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

Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program 2026 · $1.2M Gatekeeper 2025 · $1.2M Soundfall 2022 · $896k Relic Hunters Legend 2025 · $660k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Gatekeeper $14.99 2,706 82% 81k $1.2M (exactly $1,216,888) Gravity Lagoon
Soundfall older $29.99 996 73% 30k $896k (exactly $896,101) Drastic Games
Relic Hunters Legend $19.99 1,101 65% 33k $660k (exactly $660,270) Rogue Snail
From Space older $14.99 1,425 67% 43k $641k (exactly $640,822) Triangle Studios
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Alien Shooter older $4.99 3,919 95% 118k $587k (exactly $586,674) Sigma Team Inc.
Grind Survivors $12.99 1,332 69% 40k $519k (exactly $519,080) Pushka Studios
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
RIFTSTORM · EA $14.99 659 70% 20k $296k (exactly $296,352) Confiction Labs, Agate
CyberCorp $14.99 351 75% 11k $158k (exactly $157,845) Megame LLC
Bioweaver $6.99 668 77% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games

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