Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Space

Of 311 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 312 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 170 developers shipped in the last year and 312 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 312 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 311
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $719 → $1.0k → $449 → $449 → $300 → $299 → $539 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 311
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,097)
Top 5% $52k (exactly $52,295)
Developers, 2 yr 311
Released games 1,132
Announced 312
Effort 5 / 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 up 35% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 69% positive over 17,254 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $52k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 156 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 312 games are announced against 170 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Subverse 2024 · $17M Nova Drift 2024 · $7.0M Out There Somewhere 2016 · $1.8M Beat Hazard 2010 · $1.5M Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime 2015 · $1.5M
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
Nova Drift older $17.99 12,975 95% 389k $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) Chimeric
Out There Somewhere older $9.99 6,160 92% 185k $1.8M (exactly $1,846,152) MiniBoss
Beat Hazard older $9.99 5,072 95% 152k $1.5M (exactly $1,520,078) Cold Beam Games
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime older $14.99 3,368 93% 101k $1.5M (exactly $1,514,590) Asteroid Base
DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours older $49.99 717 82% 22k $1.1M (exactly $1,075,285) Pyramid
DoDonPachi Resurrection older $29.99 982 95% 29k $884k (exactly $883,505) CAVE Interactive CO.,LTD.
Beat Hazard 2 older $18.99 1,396 89% 42k $795k (exactly $795,301) Cold Beam Games
R-Type Final 2 older $39.99 660 75% 20k $792k (exactly $791,802) Granzella Inc.
Astebreed: Definitive Edition older $19.99 1,272 87% 38k $763k (exactly $762,818) Edelweiss
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
Earthion $19.99 483 95% 14k $290k (exactly $289,655) Ancient Corporation, Bitwave Games
GRADIUS ORIGINS $39.99 241 92% 7.2k $289k (exactly $289,128) KONAMI, M2 Co.,LTD
SHOOPER NOVA $6.99 545 83% 16k $114k (exactly $114,286) Jamesika
Touhou Lensed Night Sky, Kaseigai $22.00 144 95% 4.3k $95k (exactly $95,040) Fire Land
Star Survivor $4.99 540 67% 16k $81k (exactly $80,838) SpaceOwl Games, Erabit
SNAKE GAME ULTRA CORE $29.99 89 88% 2.7k $80k (exactly $80,073) Galactic Geckon
TOP DOG $9.99 263 88% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) MorfeoDev

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