Games › RPG › RPG + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up RPG?
RPG + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 133 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up RPG 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.. 183 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×193 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 183 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,040) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,490) |
| Top 5% | $121k (exactly $120,969) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 133 |
| Released games | 477 |
| Announced | 183 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 65% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- RPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- RPG, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 18,611 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 81 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 183 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M 
Subverse 2024 · $17M 
20 Minutes Till Dawn 2023 · $4.2M 
Minishoot' Adventures 2024 · $3.5M 
Project Warlock 2018 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PAYDAY 3 | older | $29.99 | 49,305 45% | 1.5M | $44M (exactly $44,359,708) | Starbreeze Studios |
| | Subverse | $39.99 | 13,781 66% | 413k | $17M (exactly $16,533,066) | Studio FOW Interactive | |
| | 20 Minutes Till Dawn | older | $4.99 | 27,872 90% | 836k | $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) | flanne |
| | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
| | Project Warlock | older | $12.00 | 4,691 87% | 141k | $1.7M (exactly $1,688,760) | Buckshot Software |
 | Zombotron | older | $14.99 | 2,974 89% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,337,408) | Ant.Karlov Games |
 | DR LIVESEY ROM AND DEATH EDITION | older | $2.99 | 12,437 94% | 373k | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,599) | Agafonoff |
 | Juicy Realm | older | $9.99 | 3,269 87% | 98k | $980k (exactly $979,719) | SpaceCan |
 | Alien Hominid Invasion | older | $19.99 | 1,572 88% | 47k | $943k (exactly $942,728) | The Behemoth |
 | Crimsonland | older | $13.99 | 2,107 94% | 63k | $884k (exactly $884,308) | 10tons Ltd |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
 | Castle Of Alchemists | $14.99 | 618 80% | 19k | $278k (exactly $277,915) | Team Machiavelli | |
 | Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot | $4.99 | 1,584 79% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Konfa Games | |
 | SealChain: Call of Blood | $8.99 | 537 56% | 16k | $145k (exactly $144,829) | AliveGameStudio | |
 | Shape Shifter: Formations | $14.99 | 269 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $120,969) | Castec Studios | |
 | Cyberwar: Neon City | · EA | $17.99 | 171 90% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $92,289) | Cyber Monkey Studios |
 | Pinball Storm: Lokanta | $5.99 | 434 70% | 13k | $78k (exactly $77,990) | Aastral Dynamics | |
 | Touhou Spell Carnival | $49.99 | 49 77% | 1.5k | $73k (exactly $73,485) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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