Do I ship it?

Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Military

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Military Top-Down Shooter?

Top-Down Shooter + Military

Of 75 developers who shipped a Military 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.. 132 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 40 developers shipped in the last year and 132 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 350% on the market, 132 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Top-Down Shooter + Military
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 75
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $238 → $898 → $599 → $150 → $449 → $719 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Top-Down Shooter + Military: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 75
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $3.3k (exactly $3,293)
Top 5% $187k (exactly $186,940)
Developers, 2 yr 75
Released games 230
Announced 132
Effort 6 / 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 350% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
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
Top-Down Shooter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 18,575 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 132 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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

Foxhole 2022 · $43M Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M Door Kickers 2: Task Force North 2025 · $9.2M RUNNING WITH RIFLES 2015 · $6.6M Cleared Hot 2025 · EA · $2.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Foxhole older $29.99 47,330 79% 1.4M $43M (exactly $42,582,801) Siege Camp
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront older $34.99 32,183 85% 965k $34M (exactly $33,782,495) Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North $24.99 12,324 96% 370k $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) KillHouse Games
RUNNING WITH RIFLES older $14.99 14,676 87% 440k $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) Osumia Games
Cleared Hot · EA $17.99 3,934 96% 118k $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) Not Knowing Corporation
METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake older $19.99 775 83% 23k $465k (exactly $464,767) KONAMI
No Plan B older $14.99 761 86% 23k $342k (exactly $342,222) GFX47
Trench Lord: Eastern Front $11.99 774 83% 23k $278k (exactly $278,408) Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD.
METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.1 BONUS CONTENT older $59.99 125 63% 3.8k $225k (exactly $224,962) KONAMI
Metal Thunder · EA $10.99 567 76% 17k $187k (exactly $186,940) Dumbbell Games
Phantom Squad $13.99 416 80% 12k $175k (exactly $174,595) Ctrl Freak
No Escape from Madness $11.99 197 60% 5.9k $71k (exactly $70,861) qiqin
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc
Spy Drops $14.99 93 63% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Rainy Night Creations
Try to survive Today · EA $10.99 77 68% 2.3k $25k (exactly $25,387) VIVA
Son of a Gun $9.99 80 78% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,976) Crank Goblin

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