Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Resource Management Shooter?

Shooter + Resource Management

Of 90 developers who shipped a Resource Management 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.. 246 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×418 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 246 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 440% on the market, 246 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 90
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $179 → $11k → $1.3k → $150 → $360 → $898 → $3.6k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 90
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,491)
Top 5% $262k (exactly $262,290)
Developers, 2 yr 90
Released games 205
Announced 246
Effort 6 / 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 440% on the market, supply 135% 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
Resource Management
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, Resource Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 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 $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 5,727 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 $900, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $260k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 246 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
Outpost: Infinity Siege older $24.99 11,636 65% 349k $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) Team Ranger
Gloomwood · EA older $19.99 7,495 95% 225k $4.5M (exactly $4,494,752) Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Be… (Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski, Nate Berens, Thomas Porta)
The Final Station older $14.99 6,739 88% 202k $3.0M (exactly $3,030,528) DO MY BEST
My Friendly Neighborhood older $29.99 2,485 96% 75k $2.2M (exactly $2,235,754) John Szymanski, Evan Szymanski
Meet Your Maker older $19.99 3,013 73% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,806,896) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Haydee 2 older $24.99 1,649 87% 49k $1.2M (exactly $1,236,255) Haydee Interactive
El Paso, Elsewhere older $19.99 1,393 90% 42k $835k (exactly $835,382) Strange Scaffold
Stay Out of the House older $14.99 1,688 94% 51k $759k (exactly $759,094) Puppet Combo
Echoes of the Living · EA $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) MoonGlint Studio
Survival Machine $19.99 692 69% 21k $415k (exactly $414,992) Grape Pickers
Zombie Graveyard Simulator $14.99 805 89% 24k $362k (exactly $362,008) threeW
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Iron Blight $12.49 700 93% 21k $262k (exactly $262,290) Ronesans Interactive
CURE - A Hospital Simulator · EA $9.99 830 86% 25k $249k (exactly $248,751) Sentinel Games
Comatose · EA $12.99 393 96% 12k $153k (exactly $153,152) Lucky Dart
Keep Her Safe · EA $9.99 382 97% 11k $114k (exactly $114,485) Gugu Studio
Hauntsville $18.99 189 68% 5.7k $108k (exactly $107,673) Michael Janisch
Shooting Range Simulator $11.99 164 74% 4.9k $59k (exactly $58,991) Buffed Games

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