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Should I ship a Physics Top-Down Shooter?
Physics + Top-Down Shooter
Of 74 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 121 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 44 developers shipped in the last year and 121 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $270 (exactly $270) |
| Top 25% | $1.7k (exactly $1,679) |
| Top 5% | $81k (exactly $80,838) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 74 |
| Released games | 201 |
| Announced | 121 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 6,617 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 121 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Cleared Hot 2025 · EA · $2.1M 
SNKRX 2021 · $377k 
Galactic Glitch 2025 · $359k 
Mech Havoc 2025 · EA · $244k 
Space Scavenger 2021 · $113k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cleared Hot | · EA | $17.99 | 3,934 96% | 118k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) | Not Knowing Corporation |
| | SNKRX | older | $2.99 | 4,198 94% | 126k | $377k (exactly $376,561) | a327ex |
| | Galactic Glitch | $12.99 | 920 89% | 28k | $359k (exactly $358,524) | Crunchy Leaf Games | |
| | Mech Havoc | · EA | $9.99 | 813 96% | 24k | $244k (exactly $243,656) | Mid Development |
| | Space Scavenger | older | $12.99 | 289 86% | 8.7k | $113k (exactly $112,623) | Red Cabin Games |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit | |
 | Gimbal | older | $14.99 | 130 79% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | 8888888 LABS |
 | BattleCap | $11.99 | 159 96% | 4.8k | $57k (exactly $57,192) | MechAlmond Productions | |
 | DESTRUCTURE: Among Debris | older | $9.99 | 158 90% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $47,353) | Team Instant Defeat |
 | Captain Forever Trilogy | older | $9.99 | 139 86% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $41,658) | Farbs |
 | Planet Killer | $12.99 | 94 79% | 2.8k | $37k (exactly $36,632) | Talisman One Studio | |
 | Pest Apocalypse | $9.99 | 75 94% | 2.3k | $22k (exactly $22,478) | Kikimora Games | |
 | PIZZA WESTERN 🍕 | $29.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $9.0k (exactly $8,997) | Lola Fisher | |
 | Wink Out | · EA | $7.99 | 31 100% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Clevergence Games |
 | Choo Choo Survivor 2 | $5.99 | 41 85% | 1.2k | $7.4k (exactly $7,368) | GTGD |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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