Games › Shooter › Shooter + Music
Should I ship a Music Shooter?
Shooter + Music
Of 26 developers who shipped a Music 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.. 34 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 $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×461 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 34 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,795) |
| Top 5% | $290k (exactly $289,655) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 123 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 55% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 4,869 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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
Hotline Miami 2012 · $33M 
Mafia II (Classic) 2011 · $33M 
Metal: Hellsinger 2022 · $13M 
BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE 2020 · $5.8M 
In Sound Mind 2021 · $5.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hotline Miami | older | $9.99 | 109,610 96% | 3.3M | $33M (exactly $32,850,117) | Dennaton Games |
| | Mafia II (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 36,389 92% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $32,739,183) | 2K Czech |
| | Metal: Hellsinger | older | $29.99 | 13,989 96% | 420k | $13M (exactly $12,585,903) | The Outsiders |
| | BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE | older | $19.99 | 9,598 91% | 288k | $5.8M (exactly $5,755,921) | Awe Interactive |
| | In Sound Mind | older | $34.99 | 5,467 95% | 164k | $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) | We Create Stuff |
 | Pistol Whip | older | $29.99 | 3,586 94% | 108k | $3.2M (exactly $3,226,324) | Cloudhead Games Ltd. |
 | 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 |
 | Soundfall | older | $29.99 | 996 73% | 30k | $896k (exactly $896,101) | Drastic Games |
 | Earthion | $19.99 | 483 95% | 14k | $290k (exactly $289,655) | Ancient Corporation, Bitwave Games | |
 | AGAINST | $19.99 | 284 69% | 8.5k | $170k (exactly $170,315) | Joy Way | |
 | 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 | |
 | Sex Beats | $9.99 | 62 77% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $18,581) | Naku Kinoko | |
 | Dreams of Another | $34.99 | 16 75% | 480 | $17k (exactly $16,795) | Q-Games Ltd. | |
 | Aaero2 | $14.99 | 36 94% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Mad Fellows | |
 | Erotic Rhythm | $3.99 | 61 90% | 1.8k | $7.3k (exactly $7,302) | Naku Kinoko | |
 | KILLBEAT | $9.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Kalma Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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