Games › Shooter › Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Shooter?
Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 899 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 1,043 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 1,043 games are announced against 496 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper, while revenue is down 10% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $418 (exactly $418) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) |
| Top 5% | $62k (exactly $62,384) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 899 |
| Released games | 3,477 |
| Announced | 1,043 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Shooter
- 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
- Shooter, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 18,390 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 483 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,043 games are announced against 496 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M 
Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M 
Nova Drift 2024 · $7.0M 
Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M 
POSTAL 4: No Regerts 2022 · $6.5M | 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 |
| | Crysis 2 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 9,034 89% | 271k | $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
| | Nova Drift | older | $17.99 | 12,975 95% | 389k | $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) | Chimeric |
| | Crysis 3 Remastered | older | $29.99 | 7,731 88% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) | Crytek, Saber Interactive |
| | POSTAL 4: No Regerts | older | $19.99 | 10,855 67% | 326k | $6.5M (exactly $6,509,743) | Running With Scissors |
 | POSTAL: Brain Damaged | older | $19.99 | 9,565 95% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,736,130) | Hyperstrange, CreativeForge Games |
 | Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered | older | $29.99 | 3,968 73% | 119k | $3.6M (exactly $3,570,010) | Deep Silver Volition, Sperasoft |
 | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
 | HARD BULLET | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,860 83% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,514,242) | GexagonVR |
 | Metro Awakening | $29.99 | 3,013 73% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,710,796) | Vertigo Games | |
 | Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic - the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil | $17.99 | 3,740 98% | 112k | $2.0M (exactly $2,018,478) | 上海アリス幻樂団, 上海アリスReprise | |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Beyond Sandbox | · EA | $19.99 | 1,223 39% | 37k | $733k (exactly $733,433) | Atlas XR |
 | Bloodshed | $12.99 | 1,824 84% | 55k | $711k (exactly $710,813) | com8com1 Software | |
 | Iron Meat | $19.99 | 982 96% | 29k | $589k (exactly $588,905) | Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware | |
 | CRUEL | $9.99 | 1,814 95% | 54k | $544k (exactly $543,656) | James Dornan | |
 | 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 | |
 | Guns of Fury | $14.99 | 950 88% | 29k | $427k (exactly $427,215) | Gelato Games Ltd |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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