Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Shooter?

Shooter + Magic

Of 153 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 283 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×289 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 283 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 283 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 153
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $599 → $748 → $838 → $479 → $1.5k → $449 (still earning) → $275 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 153
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,876)
Top 5% $182k (exactly $181,709)
Developers, 2 yr 153
Released games 485
Announced 283
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 30% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Magic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Shooter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 39,590 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $480, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 105 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 283 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dishonored 2012 · $20M Far Far West 2026 · EA · $19M Immortals of Aveum™ 2023 · $5.0M AMID EVIL 2019 · $4.0M Orcs Must Die! 2011 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dishonored older $9.99 67,504 97% 2.0M $20M (exactly $20,230,949) Arkane Studios
Far Far West · EA $19.99 31,458 95% 944k $19M (exactly $18,865,363) Evil Raptor
Immortals of Aveum™ older $59.99 2,794 71% 84k $5.0M (exactly $5,028,362) Ascendant Studios
AMID EVIL older $19.99 6,654 93% 200k $4.0M (exactly $3,990,404) Indefatigable
Orcs Must Die! older $9.99 6,663 95% 200k $2.0M (exactly $1,996,901) Robot Entertainment
Ziggurat older $14.99 2,835 86% 85k $1.3M (exactly $1,274,900) Milkstone Studios
Ziggurat 2 older $24.99 1,292 90% 39k $969k (exactly $968,612) Milkstone Studios
The Light Brigade: Definitive Edition older $24.99 1,125 88% 34k $843k (exactly $843,412) Funktronic Labs
Heretic + Hexen $14.99 1,789 95% 54k $805k (exactly $804,513) id Software, Nightdive Studios
Vellum $19.99 1,290 89% 39k $774k (exactly $773,613) Alvios Games
Project Warlock II $16.99 1,233 80% 37k $628k (exactly $628,460) Buckshot Software
Wizordum $19.99 880 91% 26k $528k (exactly $527,736) Emberheart Games
TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III $13.99 1,242 90% 37k $521k (exactly $521,267) 东方幕华祭制作组
Trench Tales · EA $24.99 601 69% 18k $451k (exactly $450,570) Talking Drums
TAMASHIKA $19.99 303 80% 9.1k $182k (exactly $181,709) quicktequila
Little Witch Survivors $4.99 543 87% 16k $81k (exactly $81,287) 四月二酱
Haunted Lands $5.99 251 77% 7.5k $45k (exactly $45,105) alevgor

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