Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Procedural Generation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Shooter?

Shooter + Procedural Generation

Of 250 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 457 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $990, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×438 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 457 games are announced against 132 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 457 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Procedural Generation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 250
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $2.2k → $1.6k → $748 → $2.1k → $1.3k → $449 (still earning) → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Procedural Generation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 250
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $987 (exactly $987)
Top 25% $6.5k (exactly $6,507)
Top 5% $275k (exactly $274,767)
Developers, 2 yr 250
Released games 782
Announced 457
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 55% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Procedural Generation; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 36,805 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $990, 1 in 4 over $6.5k, 1 in 20 over $270k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 132 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 457 games are announced against 132 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different second tag, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic older $29.99 303,142 97% 9.1M $273M (exactly $272,736,857) Ghost Ship Games
Remnant: From the Ashes older $39.99 47,193 84% 1.4M $57M (exactly $56,617,442) Gunfire Games
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE older $19.99 9,598 91% 288k $5.8M (exactly $5,755,921) Awe Interactive
The Last Stand: Aftermath older $24.99 6,096 80% 183k $4.6M (exactly $4,570,171) Con Artist Games
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
Void Bastards older $29.99 3,888 86% 117k $3.5M (exactly $3,498,034) Blue Manchu
Dead Estate older $14.99 5,778 95% 173k $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) Milkbar Lads
VOID/BREAKER · EA $29.99 2,506 91% 75k $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) Stubby Games
Pathogenic $9.99 4,145 92% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) Aberrant Labs
Neon Abyss 2 · EA $19.99 1,968 68% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) Veewo Games
Killer Bean · EA $14.99 2,272 73% 68k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,718) Killer Bean Studios LLC
KIBORG $24.99 1,221 84% 37k $915k (exactly $915,384) Sobaka Studio
GERONIMO · EA $19.99 1,267 81% 38k $760k (exactly $759,820) Dark Matter Studios
Moros Protocol $24.99 731 81% 22k $548k (exactly $548,031) Pixel Reign
CRUEL $9.99 1,814 95% 54k $544k (exactly $543,656) James Dornan
Human Host · EA $16.88 866 83% 26k $439k (exactly $438,542) Virtual Matrix Studio

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