Do I ship it?

GamesTop-Down ShooterTop-Down Shooter + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Top-Down Shooter?

Top-Down Shooter + Mechs

Of 42 developers who shipped a Mech Top-Down 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.. 53 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 $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $630k, ×1006 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 53 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 53 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Top-Down Shooter + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $8.4k → $7.6k → $7.9k → $718 → $899 → $16k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Top-Down Shooter + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,078)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $48,816)
Top 5% $632k (exactly $632,067)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 102
Announced 53
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Top-Down Shooter
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
Top-Down Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Action Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 11,857 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $48k, 1 in 20 over $630k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + VampiresFair16 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  3. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 15 announced
  4. + IdlerFair24 devs · median $748 · 30 announced
  5. + ArcheryFair9 devs · median $359 · 11 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 28 announced
  7. + Tactical RPGPoor odds12 devs · median $5.5k · 16 announced
  8. + Action RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + HistoricalPoor odds18 devs · median $3.3k · 24 announced
  10. + ModernPoor odds13 devs · median $3.3k · 19 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds45 devs · median $3.1k · 125 announced
  12. + DystopianPoor odds24 devs · median $3.1k · 92 announced

All 150 pairs on the Top-Down Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition older $24.99 4,580 93% 137k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks
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
Cavalry Girls older $11.99 1,877 88% 56k $675k (exactly $675,157) 中子星游戏研究所
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Insect Swarm older $6.99 2,491 84% 75k $522k (exactly $522,363) Parallel Portal
Tesla vs Lovecraft older $14.99 851 89% 26k $383k (exactly $382,695) 10tons Ltd
Vital Shell $5.99 1,752 96% 53k $315k (exactly $314,834) MarvinWizard
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
Gunner-chan! $9.99 220 90% 6.6k $66k (exactly $65,934) kido

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