Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Steampunk
Should I ship a Steampunk Shoot 'Em Up?
Shoot 'Em Up + Steampunk
Only 14 developers shipped a Steampunk Shoot 'Em Up 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, Castle Of Alchemists, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 6 developers shipped in the last year and 19 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 5% | $278k (exactly $277,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 19 |
| 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 down 20% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Steampunk
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 710 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FaithFair
- + RomanceFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + SwordplayLong shot
- + MusicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
Comparable games
Castle Of Alchemists 2025 · $278k 
Wild Guns Reloaded 2017 · $196k 
Jamestown 2011 · $195k 
Sine Mora EX 2017 · $139k 
The Chaos Engine 2013 · $84k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Castle Of Alchemists | $14.99 | 618 80% | 19k | $278k (exactly $277,915) | Team Machiavelli | |
| | Wild Guns Reloaded | older | $14.99 | 435 88% | 13k | $196k (exactly $195,620) | NatsumeAtari |
| | Jamestown | older | $9.99 | 652 94% | 20k | $195k (exactly $195,404) | Final Form Games |
| | Sine Mora EX | older | $9.99 | 463 66% | 14k | $139k (exactly $138,761) | Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufactur… (Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufacture, Gyroscope Games) |
| | The Chaos Engine | older | $9.99 | 279 75% | 8.4k | $84k (exactly $83,616) | Abstraction Games, The Bitmap Brothers |
 | AIRHEART - Tales of broken Wings | older | $14.99 | 128 81% | 3.8k | $58k (exactly $57,562) | Blindflug Studios AG |
 | Steel Empire | older | $14.99 | 100 77% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,970) | mebius. |
 | Naval Warfare | older | $6.99 | 189 58% | 5.7k | $40k (exactly $39,633) | Game Distillery s.r.o. |
 | Kamikaze Lassplanes | older | $19.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $22,189) | Inky Dreams |
 | Monsters 'til Midnight | older | $4.99 | 93 83% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,922) | Retro Dreamer |
 | Vex Clock | $14.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Dave Microwaves Games | |
 | Hell Survivors | · EA | $7.99 | 38 55% | 1.1k | $9.1k (exactly $9,109) | Aerilon |
 | Cloudbreaker | $12.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Ballast Games | |
 | The Soul of Romit | $3.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $838 (exactly $838) | Kleon Studio | |
 | Ventilate | $10.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $659 (exactly $659) | Inkfox Studios | |
 | Soul Machine | $4.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Zanarka Studio | |
 | Pirates of Gravitae | $2.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | Innerverse Games | |
 | Lockstone Mountains | $2.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | Waesome Games | |
 | The Last Shot: Arcades | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Rumata Lab |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.