Games › Rhythm › Rhythm + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Rhythm Shoot 'Em Up?
Rhythm + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 22 developers who shipped a Rhythm 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.. 35 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $25k, ×54 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $716 (exactly $716) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 5% | $26k (exactly $25,774) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 98 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Rhythm
- effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Rhythm, Shoot 'Em Up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 755 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Rhythm with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Choose Your Own AdventureStrong odds
- + Third-Person ShooterStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + ModernFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + ManagementFair
- + Beat 'em upFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Combat RacingFair
Comparable games
Beat Hazard 2010 · $1.5M 
ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M 
Beat Hazard 2 2019 · $795k 
Beat Hazard 3 2024 · $351k 
Drums Rock 2023 · $241k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Beat Hazard | older | $9.99 | 5,072 95% | 152k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) | Cold Beam Games |
| | ROBOBEAT | older | $19.99 | 1,708 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) | Simon Fredholm |
| | Beat Hazard 2 | older | $18.99 | 1,396 89% | 42k | $795k (exactly $795,301) | Cold Beam Games |
| | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
| | Drums Rock | older | $19.99 | 402 88% | 12k | $241k (exactly $241,079) | Garage51 |
 | Arrest of a stone Buddha | older | $14.99 | 400 69% | 12k | $180k (exactly $179,880) | yeo |
 | Soundodger+ | older | $7.99 | 676 90% | 20k | $162k (exactly $162,037) | Studio Bean |
 | Symphony | older | $4.99 | 833 86% | 25k | $125k (exactly $124,700) | Empty Clip Studios |
 | Holodance | older | $19.99 | 201 85% | 6.0k | $121k (exactly $120,540) | narayana games UG |
 | Waveform | older | $1.99 | 1,878 83% | 56k | $112k (exactly $112,117) | Eden Industries |
 | Rhythm Witch: Beat Death | $5.99 | 508 94% | 15k | $91k (exactly $91,288) | Dusklight CO., LTD. | |
 | Rhythm Storm | $9.99 | 86 91% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $25,774) | Radiangames | |
 | HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell | $19.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Gameinaframe | |
 | Beats Of Fury | $9.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Bubble Head Games | |
 | PopSlinger Vol. 2 - Loveless | $14.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Funky Can Creative | |
 | CYBERSLAYER: No Time to Regret | $4.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | KAEV Games | |
 | VILOVEJETS | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Polka Studio | |
 | Legend of Shawy Cat: Mafia Prepack | $4.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | 86岁按时吃饭 | |
 | Heartbeats | $3.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $2.0k (exactly $2,035) | First Impact Studio | |
 | MEMOLOGY: ESCAPE OF MEMES | $0.99 | 35 91% | 1.1k | $1.0k (exactly $1,040) | Gamesforfarm, Piece Of Voxel |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.