Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Strategy game?

Strategy + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 143 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up Strategy game 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.. 161 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 73 developers shipped in the last year and 161 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 161 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 143
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.1k → $1.1k → $479 → $416 → $539 → $599 → $299 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 143
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,565)
Top 5% $114k (exactly $114,286)
Developers, 2 yr 143
Released games 482
Announced 161
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 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy, Shoot 'Em Up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 18,378 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $360, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 77 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 161 games are announced against 73 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds50 devs · median $65k · 27 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair62 devs · median $16k · 74 announced
  3. + BaseballFair14 devs · median $7.5k · 7 announced
  4. + LGBTQ+Fair89 devs · median $6.7k · 91 announced
  5. + WuxiaFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 41 announced
  6. + FarmingFair44 devs · median $4.3k · 42 announced
  7. + Martial ArtsFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 94 announced
  8. + SubmarineFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  9. + NavalFair66 devs · median $2.2k · 88 announced
  10. + IdlerFair696 devs · median $1.9k · 988 announced
  11. + Shop KeeperFair159 devs · median $1.8k · 264 announced
  12. + HackingFair96 devs · median $1.2k · 132 announced

All 275 pairs on the Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Subverse 2024 · $17M 20 Minutes Till Dawn 2023 · $4.2M Raw Data 2017 · $2.4M Apocalypse Party 2023 · $1.4M Gungrave G.O.R.E 2022 · $669k
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
20 Minutes Till Dawn older $4.99 27,872 90% 836k $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) flanne
Raw Data older $39.99 2,036 81% 61k $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) Survios
Apocalypse Party older $9.99 4,658 72% 140k $1.4M (exactly $1,396,003) Breaker Games
Gungrave G.O.R.E older $29.99 744 71% 22k $669k (exactly $669,377) Iggymob Co.,Ltd
Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer $18.99 1,126 78% 34k $641k (exactly $641,482) Runner Duck
Multi Turret Academy · EA older $8.99 1,778 95% 53k $480k (exactly $479,527) Yulia Games
Octogeddon older $8.88 1,298 92% 39k $346k (exactly $345,787) All Yes Good
Super Time Force Ultra older $14.99 677 90% 20k $304k (exactly $304,447) Capybara Games
Darwinia older $11.99 781 78% 23k $281k (exactly $280,926) Introversion Software
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
Mech Havoc · EA $9.99 813 96% 24k $244k (exactly $243,656) Mid Development
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
WAR RATS: The Rat em Up $11.99 382 95% 11k $137k (exactly $137,405) wootusart Industries
Swarm Bunker: Lust Defense $9.99 386 88% 12k $116k (exactly $115,684) 001Studio-NSFW
SHOOPER NOVA $6.99 545 83% 16k $114k (exactly $114,286) Jamesika
SNAKE GAME ULTRA CORE $29.99 89 88% 2.7k $80k (exactly $80,073) Galactic Geckon
Touhou Spell Carnival $49.99 49 77% 1.5k $73k (exactly $73,485) Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING

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