Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Music
Should I ship a Music Shoot 'Em Up?
Shoot 'Em Up + Music
Only 12 developers shipped a Music Shoot 'Em Up in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×19 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×4249 the market median. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.0k (exactly $2,035) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,869) |
| Top 5% | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 200% on the market, supply 30% fewer 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.
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Music
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 97% positive over 4,494 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FaithFair
- + RomanceFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + SwordplayLong shot
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
Comparable games
Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil 2026 · $2.0M 
Beat Hazard 2010 · $1.5M 
ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M 
Beat Hazard 2 2019 · $795k 
Beat Hazard 3 2024 · $351k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil | $17.99 | 3,740 98% | 112k | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) | 上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise | |
| | Beat Hazard | older | $9.99 | 5,072 95% | 152k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) | Cold Beam Games |
| | ROBOBEAT | older | $19.99 | 1,708 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) | Simon Fredholm |
| | Beat Hazard 2 | older | $18.99 | 1,396 89% | 42k | $795k (exactly $795,301) | Cold Beam Games |
| | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
 | Earthion | $19.99 | 483 95% | 14k | $290k (exactly $289,655) | Ancient Corporation, Bitwave Games | |
 | Drums Rock | older | $19.99 | 402 88% | 12k | $241k (exactly $241,079) | Garage51 |
 | Soundodger+ | older | $7.99 | 676 90% | 20k | $162k (exactly $162,037) | Studio Bean |
 | Savant - Ascent | older | $1.99 | 2,130 93% | 64k | $127k (exactly $127,161) | D-Pad Studio |
 | Symphony | older | $4.99 | 833 86% | 25k | $125k (exactly $124,700) | Empty Clip Studios |
 | 東方资志疏 ~ Immortal Immanuel. (东方资志疏) | $9.99 | 103 94% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,869) | 雾雨威Channel, 沙包聚集地制作组 | |
 | Look Mum No Computer | $14.99 | 60 98% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $26,982) | The Bitfather | |
 | HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Gameinaframe | |
 | Beats Of Fury | $9.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Bubble Head Games | |
 | Murder Inc | $9.99 | 18 77% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | PigeonDev | |
 | Miami Horizon 2077 | $4.90 | 16 75% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,352) | CJ | |
 | Heartbeats | $3.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $2.0k (exactly $2,035) | First Impact Studio | |
 | StreetSync | $0.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $297 (exactly $297) | Tyler L |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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