Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Match 3

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Match 3 Shooter?

Shooter + Match 3

Only 15 developers shipped a Match 3 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, POPUCOM, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 5 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 5 announced, ×0.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Match 3
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Shooter + Match 3: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,599)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 44
Announced 5
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.99

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 200% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Match 3
effort 2 / 10 · high · grid matching rules and cascades

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, Match 3
Price point
$2.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 3,590 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 $720, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 5 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different second tag, 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. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  7. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  9. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  10. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced
  12. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $84k · 47 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mirror 2: Project X 2022 · EA · $6.6M Mirror 2018 · $4.3M POPUCOM 2025 · $2.1M Zuma Deluxe 2006 · $970k H-Isekai Loves 2022 · $116k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mirror 2: Project X · EA older $1.99 111,251 24% 3.3M $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs
Mirror older $1.99 72,623 96% 2.2M $4.3M (exactly $4,335,593) KAGAMI WORKS
POPUCOM $19.99 3,432 87% 103k $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) Hypergryph
Zuma Deluxe older $4.99 6,481 95% 194k $970k (exactly $970,206) PopCap Games, Inc.
H-Isekai Loves older $2.99 1,292 84% 39k $116k (exactly $115,892) G-Blood
Hentai Asmodeus older $1.99 1,757 83% 53k $105k (exactly $104,893) HEGA Studio
Super Star Path older $4.99 340 82% 10k $51k (exactly $50,898) DYA Games
Underwater battles older $39.99 12 75% 360 $14k (exactly $14,396) Stas Paty9mkin
Project: Stellar Girls $4.99 32 46% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) 430Games
Shoot! & Ahhhhh~ $1.99 65 83% 2.0k $3.9k (exactly $3,880) HighSpeed Games
100 in 1 Game Collection $29.99 4 75% 120 $3.6k (exactly $3,599) Digital Bards
Pinball Hero $3.99 17 76% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) COSO
Ultimate Sugar Crush! — Brick Breaker Desire $2.99 17 88% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) CHOCOLAT, LLC.
Munchy Cat $3.99 10 70% 300 $1.2k (exactly $1,197) Blueberry Studio
Malachite: Temple of the Sun $11.99 2 50% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Boomzap Inc
Match Shot Chimera · EA $2.99 6 100% 180 $538 (exactly $538) Floating Island Games
Space Bubbles Must Die! $2.99 5 100% 150 $449 (exactly $449) FobTi interactive

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