Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Post-apocalyptic

Of 115 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 146 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 146 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 10% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 146 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 115
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $987 → $1.3k → $587 → $958 → $449 → $1.3k → $300 (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 115
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,998)
Top 5% $116k (exactly $115,684)
Developers, 2 yr 115
Released games 322
Announced 146
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 8,922 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 146 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Metro Awakening 2024 · $2.7M After the Fall® 2021 · $1.5M Crimsonland 2014 · $884k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Metro Awakening $29.99 3,013 73% 90k $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) Vertigo Games
After the Fall® older $19.99 2,572 76% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) Vertigo Games
Crimsonland older $13.99 2,107 94% 63k $884k (exactly $884,308) 10tons Ltd
Angel at Dusk older $14.99 1,676 98% 50k $754k (exactly $753,697) Akiragoya
Blazing Chrome older $16.99 1,326 89% 40k $676k (exactly $675,862) JoyMasher
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
CRUEL $9.99 1,814 95% 54k $544k (exactly $543,656) James Dornan
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
Swarm Bunker: Lust Defense $9.99 386 88% 12k $116k (exactly $115,684) 001Studio-NSFW
Demon Hunt · EA $6.99 460 77% 14k $96k (exactly $96,462) Massive Hug
BIRDCAGE $13.99 218 97% 6.5k $91k (exactly $91,495) POLYGON BIRD
Odinfall · EA $12.99 194 82% 5.8k $76k (exactly $75,602) Ember Paw Games
Schism $11.99 140 96% 4.2k $50k (exactly $50,358) Fami

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