Do I ship it?

GamesThird-Person ShooterThird-Person Shooter + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Third-Person Shooter?

Third-Person Shooter + Puzzle

Of 65 developers who shipped a Puzzle Third-Person 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.. 133 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 133 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper, while revenue is down 15% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 133 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Third-Person Shooter + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 65
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $9.6k → $4.5k → $959 → $2.1k → $2.0k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Third-Person Shooter + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 65
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,040)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,343)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,355,848)
Developers, 2 yr 65
Released games 195
Announced 133
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 15% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Third-Person Shooter
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Third-Person Shooter, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 16,394 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 133 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Third-Person Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RhythmStrong odds6 devs · median $3.3k · 6 announced
  2. + WesternFair15 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  3. + CollectathonLong shot19 devs · median $599 · 20 announced
  4. + Time ManagementLong shot15 devs · median $538 · 12 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorLong shot27 devs · median $479 · 27 announced
  6. + Class-BasedPoor odds11 devs · median $13k · 53 announced
  7. + Creature CollectorPoor odds12 devs · median $13k · 15 announced
  8. + DinosaursPoor odds8 devs · median $9.0k · 14 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds38 devs · median $7.2k · 63 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds12 devs · median $6.9k · 70 announced
  11. + Level EditorPoor odds10 devs · median $6.9k · 14 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds65 devs · median $5.1k · 156 announced

All 163 pairs on the Third-Person Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rise of the Tomb Raider™ older $29.99 127,316 94% 3.8M $115M (exactly $114,546,205) Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux), Nixxes)
Tomb Raider Game of the Year older $19.99 173,270 95% 5.2M $104M (exactly $103,910,019) Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Nixxes)
HITMAN World of Assassination older $29.99 58,655 87% 1.8M $53M (exactly $52,771,904) IO Interactive A/S
UNCHARTED™: Legacy of Thieves Collection older $49.99 29,422 90% 883k $44M (exactly $44,124,173) Naughty Dog LLC, Iron Galaxy Studios
L.A. Noire older $19.99 31,099 85% 933k $19M (exactly $18,650,070) Team Bondi, Rockstar Leeds
SIGNALIS older $19.99 30,601 96% 918k $18M (exactly $18,351,420) rose-engine
Resident Evil older $19.99 27,409 92% 822k $16M (exactly $16,437,177) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Strange Brigade older $49.99 8,309 84% 249k $12M (exactly $12,461,007) Rebellion
Resident Evil 0 older $19.99 14,424 80% 433k $8.7M (exactly $8,650,073) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
The Killing Antidote · EA $29.99 7,512 88% 225k $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) MetalStar Studio
POPUCOM $19.99 3,432 87% 103k $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) Hypergryph
Tormented Souls 2 $29.99 1,675 88% 50k $1.5M (exactly $1,506,998) Dual Effect
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered $29.99 1,507 89% 45k $1.4M (exactly $1,355,848) Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics
Haydee 3 $29.99 321 84% 9.6k $289k (exactly $288,804) Haydee Interactive
ENTITY: THE BLACK DAY $17.99 494 79% 15k $267k (exactly $266,612) ASD Games Studio
Fear The Timeloop $14.99 491 85% 15k $221k (exactly $220,803) TacoEaters
Heartworm $14.99 449 86% 13k $202k (exactly $201,915) Vincent Adinolfi
The Ghost’s Intimate Cure $10.99 437 70% 13k $144k (exactly $144,079) 雪山雞白郎, SnowGBL
Breed Laboratory $14.99 76 86% 2.3k $34k (exactly $34,177) Moey

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