Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Mechs

Of 37 developers who shipped a Mech Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 45 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.6k, ×7.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×1811 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 45 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 45 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.3k → $359 → $22k → $4.6k → $6.9k → $3.5k → $7.6k (still earning) → $6.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $4.6k (exactly $4,585)
Top 25% $64k (exactly $64,474)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 147
Announced 45
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 70% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Top-Down Shooter
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 9,075 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $4.6k, 1 in 4 over $64k, 1 in 20 over $1.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 6 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

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

R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program 2026 · $1.2M Greedland 2025 · $1.1M Astebreed: Definitive Edition 2014 · $763k UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves 2023 · $671k Insect Swarm 2024 · $522k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Astebreed: Definitive Edition older $19.99 1,272 87% 38k $763k (exactly $762,818) Edelweiss
UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER – The Feast of the Wolves older $39.99 559 84% 17k $671k (exactly $670,632) Endroad
Insect Swarm older $6.99 2,491 84% 75k $522k (exactly $522,363) Parallel Portal
Intrusion 2 older $9.99 1,667 93% 50k $500k (exactly $499,600) Aleksei Abramenko
Guns of Fury $14.99 950 88% 29k $427k (exactly $427,215) Gelato Games Ltd
DEVIL BLADE REBOOT older $15.99 827 98% 25k $397k (exactly $396,712) SHIGATAKE GAMES
Tesla vs Lovecraft older $14.99 851 89% 26k $383k (exactly $382,695) 10tons Ltd
Octogeddon older $8.88 1,298 92% 39k $346k (exactly $345,787) All Yes Good
Mech Havoc · EA $9.99 813 96% 24k $244k (exactly $243,656) Mid Development
Gigantes Ex Machina · EA $14.99 300 84% 9.0k $135k (exactly $134,910) AcrylByte, SEO INSEOK
DoDonPachi Resurrection Reignite $24.99 158 42% 4.7k $118k (exactly $118,453) CAVE Interactive CO., LTD.
Demon Hunt · EA $6.99 460 77% 14k $96k (exactly $96,462) Massive Hug
Time Treker $6.99 399 65% 12k $84k (exactly $83,670) Fuse Game
TOP DOG $9.99 263 88% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) MorfeoDev
R-Type Delta: HD Boosted $24.99 86 81% 2.6k $64k (exactly $64,474) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF

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