Games › Shooter › Shooter + Management
Should I ship a Management Shooter?
Shooter + Management
Of 73 developers who shipped a Management 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.. 130 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $500k, ×809 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 130 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $597 (exactly $597) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,747) |
| Top 5% | $508k (exactly $507,946) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 141 |
| Announced | 130 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.49 |
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 60% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.49 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.49.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 303,108 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 130 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M 
UBOAT 2024 · $23M 
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M 
X Rebirth 2013 · $4.6M 
Gunsmith Simulator 2024 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
| | UBOAT | older | $29.99 | 25,568 83% | 767k | $23M (exactly $23,003,530) | Deep Water Studio |
| | MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries | older | $29.99 | 13,347 84% | 400k | $12M (exactly $12,008,296) | Piranha Games Inc. |
| | X Rebirth | older | $29.99 | 5,156 42% | 155k | $4.6M (exactly $4,638,853) | Egosoft |
| | Gunsmith Simulator | $24.99 | 3,165 84% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) | GameHunters | |
 | Some Some Convenience Store | older | $14.99 | 2,889 96% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,299,183) | TALESSHOP Co., Ltd. |
 | The Walking Trade | $11.99 | 2,733 86% | 82k | $983k (exactly $983,060) | Microwave Games | |
 | Tank Squad | $19.99 | 847 70% | 25k | $508k (exactly $507,946) | DeGenerals S.A. | |
 | Astro Prospector | $4.99 | 3,223 91% | 97k | $482k (exactly $482,483) | Incrementalist | |
 | Outhold | $6.99 | 1,818 86% | 55k | $381k (exactly $381,235) | Tellus Games | |
 | Zombie Graveyard Simulator | $14.99 | 805 89% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | threeW | |
 | CURE - A Hospital Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 830 86% | 25k | $249k (exactly $248,751) | Sentinel Games |
 | Drone Sector | · EA | $16.99 | 366 89% | 11k | $187k (exactly $186,550) | Icosphere |
 | Keep Her Safe | · EA | $9.99 | 382 97% | 11k | $114k (exactly $114,485) | Gugu Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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