Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Military

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Military Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Military

Of 74 developers who shipped a Military 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.. 103 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 38 developers shipped in the last year and 103 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 103 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Military
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 74
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $594 → $2.2k → $599 → $479 → $1.1k → $899 → $479 (still earning) → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Military: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 74
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $82,786)
Developers, 2 yr 74
Released games 278
Announced 103
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 45% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Military
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
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 59% positive over 2,670 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 $480, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $82k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 103 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Hunt Down The Freeman 2018 · $1.1M Beyond Sandbox 2026 · EA · $733k METAL SLUG XX 2019 · $685k Project Gunship 2022 · EA · $376k IS Defense 2016 · $263k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hunt Down The Freeman older $9.99 3,785 54% 114k $1.1M (exactly $1,134,364) Royal Rudius Entertainment
Beyond Sandbox · EA $19.99 1,223 39% 37k $733k (exactly $733,433) Atlas XR
METAL SLUG XX older $19.99 1,143 53% 34k $685k (exactly $685,457) SNK CORPORATION
Project Gunship · EA older $14.99 836 75% 25k $376k (exactly $375,949) Sklorite Studios LLC
IS Defense older $5.99 1,465 91% 44k $263k (exactly $263,260) Destructive Creations
Commando Collection older $4.99 1,414 95% 42k $212k (exactly $211,676) Macrojoy
Wing of Darkness older $29.99 231 42% 6.9k $208k (exactly $207,831) Production Exabilities
SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION older $29.99 229 82% 6.9k $206k (exactly $206,031) Digital Eclipse
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
Thunder Wolves older $9.99 446 84% 13k $134k (exactly $133,666) Most Wanted Entertainment
Wild Blue Skies $14.99 251 58% 7.5k $113k (exactly $112,875) Chuhai Labs, VITEI BACKROOM Inc.
SONIC WINGS REUNION $59.99 46 60% 1.4k $83k (exactly $82,786) SUCCESS Corp.
TOP DOG $9.99 263 88% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) MorfeoDev
UNDER DEFEAT $19.99 81 95% 2.4k $49k (exactly $48,576) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Son of a Gun $9.99 80 78% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,976) Crank Goblin
Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli $7.99 73 71% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) AIx2 Games
FZ: Formation Z $29.99 16 87% 480 $14k (exactly $14,395) Granzella Inc.
Deadtime Defenders $9.99 48 79% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) Arcane Embers

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