Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Shooter?

Shooter + Psychological

Of 54 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 106 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×327 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 106 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 235% on the market, 106 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 54
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $748 → $1.6k → $899 → $12k → $1.4k (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 54
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,435)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,941)
Top 5% $205k (exactly $205,149)
Developers, 2 yr 54
Released games 126
Announced 106
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 235% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, FPS
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Gore
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 58% positive over 7,846 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 106 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BONELAB older $39.99 18,670 82% 560k $22M (exactly $22,398,399) Stress Level Zero
Call of Duty®: Black Ops 7 $69.99 4,344 37% 130k $9.1M (exactly $9,121,097) Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High… (Treyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Activision Shanghai, Demonware)
Lost in Vivo older $11.99 3,684 91% 111k $1.3M (exactly $1,325,135) KIRA
The Thing: Remastered $29.99 1,203 89% 36k $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
GET EVEN older $29.99 923 76% 28k $830k (exactly $830,423) The Farm 51
Duck Season PC older $9.99 1,029 93% 31k $308k (exactly $308,391) Stress Level Zero
Of Lies and Rain $39.99 171 79% 5.1k $205k (exactly $205,149) Castello Inc
It Has My Face $9.99 608 88% 18k $182k (exactly $182,218) NightByte Games
A.A.U. Black Site · EA $14.99 385 80% 12k $173k (exactly $173,134) Raspberry Studio
Beneath $19.99 262 69% 7.9k $157k (exactly $157,121) Camel 101
Dementium: The Ward $14.99 277 87% 8.3k $125k (exactly $124,567) Atooi
Cat Named Mojave $9.99 307 95% 9.2k $92k (exactly $92,008) Stargazers Studios
Project Songbird $14.99 195 85% 5.9k $88k (exactly $87,692) FYRE Games, Conner Rush
The Thing That Happened $22.99 94 57% 2.8k $65k (exactly $64,832) Mario Murkl, Zoltán Árva

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