Games › Shooter › Shooter + Roguelite
Should I ship a Roguelite Shooter?
Shooter + Roguelite
Of 606 developers who shipped a Roguelite 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.. 872 more are announced, ×2.6 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 $240; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×670 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 872 games are announced against 336 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $9.2k (exactly $9,227) |
| Top 5% | $421k (exactly $420,876) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 606 |
| Released games | 1,390 |
| Announced | 872 |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Roguelite; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 163,772 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 299 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 872 games are announced against 336 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Risk of Rain 2 | older | $24.99 | 240,001 93% | 7.2M | $180M (exactly $179,928,750) | Hopoo Games |
| | Back 4 Blood | older | $59.99 | 55,160 69% | 1.7M | $99M (exactly $99,271,452) | Turtle Rock Studios |
| | Gunfire Reborn | older | $19.99 | 88,536 93% | 2.7M | $53M (exactly $53,095,039) | Gunfire Reborn Studio |
| | Escape From Duckov | $17.99 | 83,826 85% | 2.5M | $45M (exactly $45,240,892) | Team Soda | |
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | Enter the Gungeon | older | $14.99 | 79,392 95% | 2.4M | $36M (exactly $35,702,582) | Dodge Roll |
| | Witchfire | · EA | $39.99 | 17,131 91% | 514k | $21M (exactly $20,552,061) | The Astronauts |
| | Neon Abyss | older | $31.49 | 19,709 86% | 591k | $19M (exactly $18,619,092) | Veewo Games |
| | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core | · EA | $29.99 | 14,049 60% | 421k | $13M (exactly $12,639,885) | Ghost Ship Games |
| | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
| | SULFUR | · EA | $24.99 | 9,641 87% | 289k | $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) | Perfect Random |
| | Jump Space | · EA | $19.99 | 10,724 85% | 322k | $6.4M (exactly $6,431,183) | Keepsake Games |
| | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
| | VOID/BREAKER | · EA | $29.99 | 2,506 91% | 75k | $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) | Stubby Games |
| | Pass the Fear | $18.99 | 2,985 79% | 90k | $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) | PlayMud Studio | |
| | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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