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Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Sports game?
Sports + Shoot 'Em Up
Only 15 developers shipped a Shoot 'Em Up Sports game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Whisker Squadron: Survivor, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×463 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $809 (exactly $809) |
| Top 25% | $4.6k (exactly $4,641) |
| Top 5% | $291k (exactly $290,854) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 99 |
| Announced | 14 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sports
- 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
- Sports, Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 792 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sports with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dynamic NarrationStrong odds
- + CraftingFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + FMVFair
- + BikesFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
Comparable games
pureya 2021 · $403k 
Whisker Squadron: Survivor 2025 · $291k 
Holodance 2020 · $121k 
NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol. 1 Steam Edition 2021 · $66k 
Sky Racket 2019 · $46k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | pureya | older | $5.99 | 2,242 96% | 67k | $403k (exactly $402,887) | Majorariatto |
| | Whisker Squadron: Survivor | $19.99 | 485 77% | 15k | $291k (exactly $290,854) | Flippfly LLC | |
| | Holodance | older | $19.99 | 201 85% | 6.0k | $121k (exactly $120,540) | narayana games UG |
| | NEOGEO POCKET COLOR SELECTION Vol. 1 Steam Edition | older | $39.99 | 55 90% | 1.7k | $66k (exactly $65,984) | SNK CORPORATION, Code Mystics |
| | Sky Racket | older | $14.99 | 102 92% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Double Dash Studios |
 | Ball-it Hell | older | $2.99 | 368 95% | 11k | $33k (exactly $33,010) | Jamesika |
 | Presentiment of Death | older | $14.99 | 45 71% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | XOCUS |
 | BLUE WISH DESIRE | older | $8.99 | 68 100% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $18,340) | xxGameRoom |
 | Viro Move | older | $24.99 | 23 43% | 690 | $17k (exactly $17,243) | FIT REALITY |
 | Moon Dancer | older | $14.99 | 35 97% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $15,740) | TERARIN GAMES |
 | The Original Moorhuhn Hunt | $2.99 | 140 97% | 4.2k | $13k (exactly $12,558) | Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio | |
 | Touhou Volleyball Danmaku | $9.99 | 40 100% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $11,988) | Compact TH | |
 | Just Skill Shooter: Catacombs | $9.99 | 17 64% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Moorhuhn 2 | $4.99 | 31 96% | 930 | $4.6k (exactly $4,641) | Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio | |
 | Moorhuhn Remake | $2.99 | 38 89% | 1.1k | $3.4k (exactly $3,409) | Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio | |
 | Moorhuhn Winter Edition | $4.99 | 20 90% | 600 | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) | Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio | |
 | Error_Boy.exe | $8.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $2.4k (exactly $2,427) | WalnutPunch | |
 | Strikers 1945 3 | $9.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | Zerodiv | |
 | Samurai Ace | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Zerodiv |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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