Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Robots
Of 89 developers who shipped a Robot Top-Down 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.. 120 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $23k, ×38 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 120 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $23,976) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 89 |
| Released games | 253 |
| Announced | 120 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Robots
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,604 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + VampiresFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + World War IIFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcheryFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Tactical RPGPoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising | older | $19.99 | 10,111 94% | 303k | $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) | Flow Fire Games |
| | Brigador: Up-Armored Edition | older | $24.99 | 4,580 93% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) | Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks |
| | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
| | Genome Guardian 2 | · EA | $15.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $197k (exactly $196,677) | Alpherior |
| | Livelock | older | $9.99 | 639 80% | 19k | $192k (exactly $191,508) | Tuque Games |
| | Guns n Zombies | older | $7.99 | 790 68% | 24k | $189k (exactly $189,363) | Krealit |
| | Survivors of the Dawn | · EA older | $7.99 | 694 73% | 21k | $166k (exactly $166,352) | indieGiant |
| | Gigantes Ex Machina | · EA | $14.99 | 300 84% | 9.0k | $135k (exactly $134,910) | AcrylByte, SEO INSEOK |
| | Droid Assault | older | $9.99 | 267 82% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $80,020) | Puppygames |
| | Gunner-chan! | $9.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $66k (exactly $65,934) | kido | |
| | HSS:Reload | $8.99 | 181 71% | 5.4k | $49k (exactly $48,816) | SmokingBear Studio | |
| | Son of a Gun | $9.99 | 80 78% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,976) | Crank Goblin | |
| | VOIDFACE | $8.99 | 78 96% | 2.3k | $21k (exactly $21,037) | Frog Hat Labs | |
| | CosmicGalaxyWars | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | YOSHITSUNA INC. | |
| | Sexy Iron Maidens | $4.99 | 123 69% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | Earl Marx | |
| | Ghosts Keep Out | $3.99 | 130 75% | 3.9k | $16k (exactly $15,561) | Only Fun Games | |
| | INSANIO | $9.99 | 48 66% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,386) | somebody |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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