Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Pirates

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Pirate Shooter?

Shooter + Pirates

Of 27 developers who shipped a Pirate 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.. 44 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4130 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 44 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 44 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Pirates
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $2.2k → $1.3k → $719 → $2.0k → $359 → $269 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Pirates: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,776)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 91
Announced 44
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 85% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Pirates
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, FPS, Open World
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 57% positive over 17,153 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $450, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M Blazing Sails 2023 · $3.8M Age of Water 2025 · $2.6M Space Pirate Trainer 2017 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Marauders · EA older $29.99 13,505 68% 405k $12M (exactly $12,150,448) Small Impact Games
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
Blazing Sails older $14.99 8,361 87% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive
Age of Water $29.99 2,883 72% 86k $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) Three Whales Studio
Space Pirate Trainer older $14.99 2,646 94% 79k $1.2M (exactly $1,189,906) I-Illusions
Space Pirates and Zombies older $9.99 2,231 91% 67k $669k (exactly $668,631) MinMax Games Ltd.
Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation $9.99 1,019 97% 31k $305k (exactly $305,394) Ciaran Games LLC
DAVY x JONES · EA $17.99 389 82% 12k $210k (exactly $209,943) PARASIGHT
Miss Neko: Pirates older $3.99 1,395 83% 42k $167k (exactly $166,982) Orangeee
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale older $14.99 337 58% 10k $152k (exactly $151,549) Space Boat Studios
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Vendetta Forever $19.99 34 76% 1.0k $20k (exactly $20,390) Meatspace Interactive
Pirate Hunter $6.99 80 87% 2.4k $17k (exactly $16,776) DIOsoft
Dragons Reef VR $19.99 4 50% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,399) Radoslaw Kutowinski
The Last Strand $13.00 5 100% 150 $2.0k (exactly $1,950) Rainbow Lotus Studio
Cannonball Crew $2.99 20 85% 600 $1.8k (exactly $1,794) Sweetbeard

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