Do I ship it?

Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Tower Defense

Only 12 developers shipped a Tower Defense Looter Shooter in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Keep Her Safe, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 17 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 17 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $298 → $449 → $178 → $3.7k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $3.7k (exactly $3,742)
Top 5% $114k (exactly $114,485)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 32
Announced 17
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $4.99

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 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Tower Defense
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, Tower Defense
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 96% positive over 451 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Outpost: Infinity Siege 2024 · $8.7M miniBONG 2023 · $264k Keep Her Safe 2026 · EA · $114k Bandit Trap 2026 · $13k Dr. Professor Scientist's Weapons Testing Facility 2022 · $7.2k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Keep Her Safe · EA $9.99 382 97% 11k $114k (exactly $114,485) Gugu Studio
Bandit Trap $14.99 28 92% 840 $13k (exactly $12,592) PICOMY
Dr. Professor Scientist's Weapons Testing Facility older $4.99 48 77% 1.4k $7.2k (exactly $7,186) Cool Smithy Games
Swarm Survivor: Endless Siege $4.99 25 100% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) kamen
BossHunter VR older $10.00 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,600) Ardesk LLC
Epidemic older $6.99 16 31% 480 $3.4k (exactly $3,355) NULLA
Mutant Crisis older $11.99 9 66% 270 $3.2k (exactly $3,237) Quark Game Studio
The Phoenix Initiative older $5.99 11 63% 330 $2.0k (exactly $1,977) Nobody Cares
Dragons Reef $19.99 2 50% 60 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Radoslaw Kutowinski
迫降Landing $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) SOT烈
Ancient Archer $3.99 3 100% 90 $359 (exactly $359) Primitive Realms
AI UPRISING · EA $0.99 6 83% 180 $178 (exactly $178) DMG Studios
Cascadence $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) proxaCor
Earth’s Last Defense Idle Fleet $2.99 1 0% 30 $90 (exactly $90) Jimmy Wilson, Colton Wilson, Hunter Wil… (Jimmy Wilson, Colton Wilson, Hunter Wilson, Julie A Wilson, Baylee Wilson, Jolie Wilson, Julie Wilson)
Secret Heroes-Survivor Roguelike $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) YYTGAME

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