Do I ship it?

GamesTop-Down ShooterTop-Down Shooter + Robots

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 120 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Top-Down Shooter + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 89
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.1k → $1.8k → $3.6k → $359 → $449 → $299 (still earning) → $3.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Top-Down Shooter + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 89
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.

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.

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + VampiresFair16 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  3. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 15 announced
  4. + IdlerFair24 devs · median $748 · 30 announced
  5. + ArcheryFair9 devs · median $359 · 11 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 28 announced
  7. + Tactical RPGPoor odds12 devs · median $5.5k · 16 announced
  8. + Action RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + HistoricalPoor odds18 devs · median $3.3k · 24 announced
  10. + ModernPoor odds13 devs · median $3.3k · 19 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds45 devs · median $3.1k · 125 announced
  12. + DystopianPoor odds24 devs · median $3.1k · 92 announced

All 150 pairs on the Top-Down Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.