Do I ship it?

GamesTwin Stick ShooterTwin Stick Shooter + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Twin Stick Shooter?

Twin Stick Shooter + Sci-fi

Of 154 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Twin Stick 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.. 265 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×284 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 265 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 265 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Twin Stick Shooter + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 154
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.9k → $2.7k → $898 → $3.0k → $1.8k → $897 → $390 (still earning) → $240 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Twin Stick Shooter + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 154
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,315)
Top 5% $135k (exactly $134,910)
Developers, 2 yr 154
Released games 467
Announced 265
Effort 4 / 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 75% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Twin Stick 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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Twin Stick Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Top-Down Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 9,241 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $810, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 265 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Twin Stick Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Psychological HorrorFair9 devs · median $718 · 4 announced
  2. + Looter ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  3. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds51 devs · median $11k · 57 announced
  4. + Tower DefensePoor odds12 devs · median $6.7k · 25 announced
  5. + MedievalPoor odds8 devs · median $6.3k · 32 announced
  6. + LootPoor odds24 devs · median $5.4k · 62 announced
  7. + Action RPGPoor odds52 devs · median $5.1k · 96 announced
  8. + Dark FantasyPoor odds33 devs · median $4.7k · 65 announced
  9. + RPGPoor odds64 devs · median $4.6k · 122 announced
  10. + 2D FighterPoor odds15 devs · median $3.1k · 28 announced
  11. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds30 devs · median $3.0k · 70 announced
  12. + DestructionPoor odds19 devs · median $3.0k · 39 announced

All 90 pairs on the Twin Stick Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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
Killsquad older $29.99 2,839 71% 85k $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) Novarama
X-Morph: Defense older $19.99 3,272 90% 98k $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) EXOR Studios
SYNTHETIK 2 · EA older $19.99 3,202 81% 96k $1.9M (exactly $1,920,239) Flow Fire Games
ANVIL older $24.99 1,900 61% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,424,430) ACTION SQUARE
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition older $14.99 2,953 64% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) AMPLITUDE Studios
UBERMOSH older $4.99 8,757 92% 263k $1.3M (exactly $1,310,923) Walter Machado
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
NIMRODS · EA $9.99 1,783 85% 53k $534k (exactly $534,365) Fiveamp
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
Mech Havoc · EA $9.99 813 96% 24k $244k (exactly $243,656) Mid Development
Genome Guardian 2 · EA $15.99 410 95% 12k $197k (exactly $196,677) Alpherior
Gigantes Ex Machina · EA $14.99 300 84% 9.0k $135k (exactly $134,910) AcrylByte, SEO INSEOK
Shape Shifter: Formations $14.99 269 91% 8.1k $121k (exactly $120,969) Castec Studios
Star Vortex · EA $24.99 154 84% 4.6k $115k (exactly $115,454) Zorg Games

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