Games › Shooter › Shooter + Mining
Should I ship a Mining Shooter?
Shooter + Mining
Of 21 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 47 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $66k, ×105 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,372) |
| Top 5% | $66k (exactly $66,106) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 47 |
| 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 down 60% on the market, supply 325% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Mining; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,157 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Hidden Deep 2022 · EA · $3.2M 
Lumencraft 2023 · $651k 
Nuclear Epoch 2026 · $219k 
The Black Ice 2025 · EA · $66k 
Stellar Wanderer DX 2026 · $36k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hidden Deep | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,293 76% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) | Cogwheel Software |
| | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
| | Nuclear Epoch | $14.99 | 487 78% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,004) | Cat Play Studio | |
| | The Black Ice | · EA | $14.99 | 147 77% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $66,106) | RED CRAB GAMES, Antelus Games |
| | Stellar Wanderer DX | $19.99 | 60 71% | 1.8k | $36k (exactly $35,982) | Dream Builder Studios | |
 | ASTRO AQUA KITTY | older | $14.99 | 79 87% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,526) | TIKIPOD |
 | Mining Survivors | $4.99 | 132 74% | 4.0k | $20k (exactly $19,760) | Wonderbounce Games | |
 | Mining Wizards | $4.99 | 116 78% | 3.5k | $17k (exactly $17,365) | TMA Forge | |
 | Red Moon: Survival | older | $13.99 | 39 56% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $16,368) | WMG |
 | Around The Core | $3.99 | 95 86% | 2.9k | $11k (exactly $11,372) | draftentropy | |
 | Deepstone Rift | · EA | $4.99 | 45 68% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Northend Games |
 | Internal Extraction | $7.99 | 22 77% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | LuisDev | |
 | Comet Rogue | $4.99 | 28 96% | 840 | $4.2k (exactly $4,192) | Antique Gear Games | |
 | DOWNMOUSE | $3.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $3.0k (exactly $2,992) | WobblyHandStudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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