Do I ship it?

GamesThird-Person ShooterThird-Person Shooter + Roguelite

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelite Third-Person Shooter?

Third-Person Shooter + Roguelite

Of 96 developers who shipped a Roguelite Third-Person 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.. 149 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×1.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×845 the market median. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 149 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 185% on the market, 149 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Third-Person Shooter + Roguelite
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 96
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $117k → $2.8k → $2.1k → $13k → $2.1k → $2.5k → $7.3k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Third-Person Shooter + Roguelite: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 96
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $2.9k (exactly $2,878)
Top 25% $43k (exactly $43,171)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355)
Developers, 2 yr 96
Released games 181
Announced 149
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 up 185% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Third-Person Shooter
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Third-Person Shooter, Roguelite; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Shooter
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 205,727 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $2.9k, 1 in 4 over $43k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 149 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Third-Person Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RhythmStrong odds6 devs · median $3.3k · 6 announced
  2. + WesternFair15 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  3. + CollectathonLong shot19 devs · median $599 · 20 announced
  4. + Time ManagementLong shot15 devs · median $538 · 12 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorLong shot27 devs · median $479 · 27 announced
  6. + Class-BasedPoor odds11 devs · median $13k · 53 announced
  7. + Creature CollectorPoor odds12 devs · median $13k · 15 announced
  8. + DinosaursPoor odds8 devs · median $9.0k · 14 announced
  9. + MechsPoor odds38 devs · median $7.2k · 63 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds12 devs · median $6.9k · 70 announced
  11. + Level EditorPoor odds10 devs · median $6.9k · 14 announced
  12. + CraftingPoor odds65 devs · median $5.1k · 156 announced

All 163 pairs on the Third-Person Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Returnal™ older $59.99 6,602 79% 198k $12M (exactly $11,881,619) Housemarque, Climax Studios
Crab Champions · EA older $9.99 26,546 97% 796k $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) Noisestorm
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap $29.99 4,053 69% 122k $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) Robot Entertainment
LORT · EA $14.99 3,933 77% 118k $1.8M (exactly $1,768,670) Big Distraction
FUMES · EA $14.99 2,816 95% 84k $1.3M (exactly $1,266,355) FUMES team
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Killer Bean · EA $14.99 2,272 73% 68k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,718) Killer Bean Studios LLC
Vellum $19.99 1,290 89% 39k $774k (exactly $773,613) Alvios Games
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Endless Alice · EA $8.99 2,307 91% 69k $622k (exactly $622,198) HowlingRain, 台灣響雨互娛, 響雨@OSAKA

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.