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Should I ship a Robot Twin Stick Shooter?
Twin Stick Shooter + Robots
Of 38 developers who shipped a Robot Twin Stick 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.. 69 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $200; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×215 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 69 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $198 (exactly $198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 5% | $135k (exactly $134,910) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 129 |
| Announced | 69 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Twin Stick 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
- Twin Stick Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Top-Down Shooter, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,208 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $200. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Twin Stick Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Looter ShooterPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + MedievalPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
- + 2D FighterPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
Comparable games
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M 
Brigador: Up-Armored Edition 2016 · $3.4M 
Assault Android Cactus+ 2015 · $795k 
Rogue Stormers 2016 · $389k 
The Mobius Machine 2024 · $265k | 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 |
| | Assault Android Cactus+ | older | $19.99 | 1,325 94% | 40k | $795k (exactly $794,602) | Witch Beam |
| | Rogue Stormers | older | $19.99 | 649 65% | 19k | $389k (exactly $389,205) | Black Forest Games |
| | The Mobius Machine | older | $19.99 | 442 82% | 13k | $265k (exactly $265,067) | Madruga Works |
 | Go Mecha Ball | older | $19.99 | 371 85% | 11k | $222k (exactly $222,489) | Whale Peak Games |
 | Guardians Frontline | older | $24.99 | 287 83% | 8.6k | $215k (exactly $215,164) | VirtualAge |
 | RIVE | older | $14.99 | 468 83% | 14k | $210k (exactly $210,460) | Two Tribes |
 | NeuroVoider | older | $13.99 | 492 77% | 15k | $206k (exactly $206,492) | Flying Oak Games |
 | Genome Guardian 2 | · EA | $15.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $197k (exactly $196,677) | Alpherior |
 | Gigantes Ex Machina | · EA | $14.99 | 300 84% | 9.0k | $135k (exactly $134,910) | AcrylByte, SEO INSEOK |
 | 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 | |
 | Aaero2 | $14.99 | 36 94% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Mad Fellows | |
 | Cosmic Coliseum | $4.99 | 55 92% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Exane Games | |
 | SANDRIPPER | $5.99 | 35 91% | 1.1k | $6.3k (exactly $6,290) | Mack | |
 | WATERPUNK | $8.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $5.7k (exactly $5,664) | R_Games | |
 | Dead Oculus | $14.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Andrew Wilker |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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