Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Shoot 'Em Up?
Shoot 'Em Up + Sci-fi
Of 453 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 505 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $110; 1 in 20 cleared $69k, ×147 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 505 games are announced against 265 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $105 (exactly $105) |
|---|---|
| Median | $419 (exactly $419) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) |
| Top 5% | $70k (exactly $69,722) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 453 |
| Released games | 1,563 |
| Announced | 505 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 45% on the market, supply 35% more 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.
- Shoot 'Em Up
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Retro, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 24,778 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $110. 9 in 10 of the 213 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 505 games are announced against 265 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FaithFair
- + RomanceFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + SwordplayLong shot
- + MusicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
Comparable games
Subverse 2024 · $17M 
Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M 
Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M 
Furi 2016 · $6.7M 
Journey To The Savage Planet 2021 · $5.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Subverse | $39.99 | 13,781 66% | 413k | $17M (exactly $16,533,066) | Studio FOW Interactive | |
| | Crysis 2 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 9,034 89% | 271k | $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
| | Crysis 3 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 7,731 88% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
| | Furi | older | $19.99 | 11,246 90% | 337k | $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) | The Game Bakers |
| | Journey To The Savage Planet | older | $29.99 | 5,674 87% | 170k | $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) | Typhoon |
 | Raw Data | older | $39.99 | 2,036 81% | 61k | $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) | Survios |
 | HUNTDOWN | older | $19.99 | 4,059 94% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) | Easy Trigger Games |
 | Out There Somewhere | older | $9.99 | 6,160 92% | 185k | $1.8M (exactly $1,846,152) | MiniBoss |
 | Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime | older | $14.99 | 3,368 93% | 101k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,590) | Asteroid Base |
 | Zombotron | older | $14.99 | 2,974 89% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,337,408) | Ant.Karlov Games |
 | R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program | $14.99 | 2,727 76% | 82k | $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) | WarmCore Studio | |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III | $13.99 | 1,242 90% | 37k | $521k (exactly $521,267) | 东方幕华祭制作组 | |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION | $19.99 | 770 96% | 23k | $462k (exactly $461,769) | WIZNWAR, FLARB LLC | |
 | Earthion | $19.99 | 483 95% | 14k | $290k (exactly $289,655) | Ancient Corporation, Bitwave Games | |
 | Mech Havoc | · EA | $9.99 | 813 96% | 24k | $244k (exactly $243,656) | Mid Development |
 | Neon Inferno | $19.99 | 378 92% | 11k | $227k (exactly $226,687) | Zenovia Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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