Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Sci-fi
Of 385 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Top-Down 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.. 600 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 217 developers shipped in the last year and 600 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,112) |
| Top 5% | $115k (exactly $115,454) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 385 |
| Released games | 1,105 |
| Announced | 600 |
| 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 40% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Top-Down Shooter
- 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
- Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 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 $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 60,082 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 192 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 600 games are announced against 217 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + VampiresFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + World War IIFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcheryFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Tactical RPGPoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
Comparable games
Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M 
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M 
Brotato 2023 · $17M 
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
RUINER 2017 · $6.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Aliens: Dark Descent | older | $39.99 | 15,310 87% | 459k | $18M (exactly $18,367,407) | Tindalos Interactive |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor | $12.99 | 46,354 86% | 1.4M | $18M (exactly $18,064,154) | Funday Games | |
| | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | RUINER | older | $19.99 | 10,338 89% | 310k | $6.2M (exactly $6,199,699) | Reikon Games |
 | Brigador: Up-Armored Edition | older | $24.99 | 4,580 93% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,626) | Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks |
 | Starcom: Unknown Space | older | $24.99 | 4,464 92% | 134k | $3.3M (exactly $3,346,661) | Wx3 Labs, LLC |
 | Heat Signature | older | $14.99 | 6,849 94% | 205k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,995) | Suspicious Developments |
 | Killsquad | older | $29.99 | 2,839 71% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) | Novarama |
 | Star Valor | older | $24.99 | 3,272 88% | 98k | $2.5M (exactly $2,453,018) | Rafael Burgos |
 | 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 | |
 | Relic Hunters Legend | $19.99 | 1,101 65% | 33k | $660k (exactly $660,270) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Arms of God | · EA | $11.50 | 1,871 88% | 56k | $645k (exactly $645,495) | Dark Jay Studio |
 | TerraTech Legion | $9.99 | 2,109 81% | 63k | $632k (exactly $632,067) | Payload Studios | |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | Brigador Killers | · EA | $24.99 | 572 69% | 17k | $429k (exactly $428,828) | Stellar Jockeys, Gausswerks |
 | Galactic Glitch | $12.99 | 920 89% | 28k | $359k (exactly $358,524) | Crunchy Leaf Games | |
 | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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