Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Tactical game?

Tactical + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 60 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up Tactical 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.. 84 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 30 developers shipped in the last year and 84 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 84 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 60
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $150 → $1.1k → $119 → $479 → $2.1k → $76 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 60
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,319)
Top 5% $177k (exactly $176,523)
Developers, 2 yr 60
Released games 239
Announced 84
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 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Tactical
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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Shooter
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
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 84% positive over 2,269 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $1.3k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M Crysis 2 Remastered 2022 · $8.1M Project Gunship 2022 · EA · $376k Beat Hazard 3 2024 · $351k Utopia Must Fall 2024 · EA · $339k
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
Project Gunship · EA older $14.99 836 75% 25k $376k (exactly $375,949) Sklorite Studios LLC
Beat Hazard 3 older $19.99 586 84% 18k $351k (exactly $351,424) Cold Beam Games
Utopia Must Fall · EA older $8.99 1,258 95% 38k $339k (exactly $339,283) Pixeljam
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
Neckbreak older $15.99 415 79% 12k $199k (exactly $199,076) MGP Studios, Solid9 Studio
Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 $9.99 589 76% 18k $177k (exactly $176,523) Terror Dog Studio
Swordship older $19.99 209 85% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) Digital Kingdom
Touhou Spell Carnival $49.99 49 77% 1.5k $73k (exactly $73,485) Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING
Split Second VR Tactical Shooter · EA $9.99 49 38% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,685) Robertson Gaming Studios
Aerial_Knight's DropShot $19.99 22 90% 660 $13k (exactly $13,193) Aerial_Knight
Siegecaster $8.99 32 62% 960 $8.6k (exactly $8,630) Half Human Games, Boss Corridor
Fire at Campsite $5.99 45 82% 1.4k $8.1k (exactly $8,086) Salvador Palma
Threads of War $4.99 45 97% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) KoS
Red Crucible Assault · EA $14.99 7 100% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) Massive Head Games

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