Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Mars

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mars Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Mars

Only 11 developers shipped a Mars Shoot 'Em Up 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, outpost4, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 6 developers shipped in the last year and 8 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 5365% on the market, 8 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Mars
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Mars: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $11,252)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 30
Announced 8
Effort 5 / 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 up 5365% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mars
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 76% positive over 125 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $11k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 8 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Jamestown 2011 · $195k SOL CRESTA 2022 · $56k KUR 2022 · $28k DemonStar 2023 · $22k Outpost 2023 · $22k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Jamestown older $9.99 652 94% 20k $195k (exactly $195,404) Final Form Games
SOL CRESTA older $17.99 104 77% 3.1k $56k (exactly $56,129) PlatinumGames Inc.
KUR older $19.99 46 60% 1.4k $28k (exactly $27,586) Really Ragdoll
DemonStar older $2.99 248 94% 7.4k $22k (exactly $22,246) Scott Host
Outpost older $3.99 184 73% 5.5k $22k (exactly $22,025) BananaDogGames
G WARRIOR older $4.99 106 90% 3.2k $16k (exactly $15,868) Liao Kai, LKK GAME
outpost4 $3.99 94 72% 2.8k $11k (exactly $11,252) BananaDogGames
Devader older $7.99 32 93% 960 $7.7k (exactly $7,670) Falkenbrew
Teslapunk older $8.99 17 88% 510 $4.6k (exactly $4,585) klutzGames, Fleischfilm
Project Neon $19.99 5 80% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) FULLSET
Battle for Asciion $4.99 12 91% 360 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) Relevo
IRONBORNE $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Tres Interactive
Invasion 2 $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) CDIS Lab.
Blood Aliens 3 $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Ciberrex Games
Space Shooter - Tryü Sora $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) DeadFly.Games
Pink Devil $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) Lola Fisher
Cowboy In Space $0.99 2 100% 60 $59 (exactly $59) Da Waffle H8ter
Area51 $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Jon Fabris

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