Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Shoot 'Em Up?
Shoot 'Em Up + Underwater
Only 11 developers shipped an Underwater 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, Critical Fishing, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.
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 8 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 5% | $4.5k (exactly $4,485) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 8 |
| 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 1155% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Underwater
- 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
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 7 games average 93% positive over 88 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 8 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Death in the Water 2 2023 · $780k 
Octogeddon 2018 · $346k 
Shark Attack Deathmatch 2 2019 · $212k 
Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade 2021 · $204k 
G-Darius HD 2022 · $142k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Death in the Water 2 | older | $14.99 | 1,734 83% | 52k | $780k (exactly $779,780) | Lighthouse Games Studio |
| | Octogeddon | older | $8.88 | 1,298 92% | 39k | $346k (exactly $345,787) | All Yes Good |
| | Shark Attack Deathmatch 2 | older | $4.99 | 1,415 74% | 42k | $212k (exactly $211,826) | Lighthouse Games Studio |
| | Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade | older | $44.99 | 151 94% | 4.5k | $204k (exactly $203,805) | TAITO CORP., M2 Co.,LTD |
| | G-Darius HD | older | $29.99 | 158 94% | 4.7k | $142k (exactly $142,153) | TAITO CORP., M2 Co., Ltd. |
 | NEO AQUARIUM - The King of Crustaceans - | older | $8.99 | 252 80% | 7.6k | $68k (exactly $67,964) | Calappa Games |
 | Aqua Kitty - Milk Mine Defender | older | $6.99 | 294 86% | 8.8k | $62k (exactly $61,652) | TIKIPOD, Electric Cafe |
 | Earth Atlantis | older | $14.99 | 48 58% | 1.4k | $22k (exactly $21,586) | Pixel Perfex |
 | Insiders | older | $13.99 | 40 80% | 1.2k | $17k (exactly $16,788) | ANG People s.r.o. |
 | Tragedy of Prince Rupert | older | $3.99 | 59 89% | 1.8k | $7.1k (exactly $7,062) | Spytihněv |
 | Critical Fishing | $2.99 | 50 96% | 1.5k | $4.5k (exactly $4,485) | lazygun | |
 | Super Chaos | $5.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) | Anodaxia | |
 | Squidly's Revenge | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Howling Wolf Games | |
 | SeaQuestDungeon | $7.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | AlchemistGame | |
 | Bobble and the Tri-Crystal | $4.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | HenryNova | |
 | Star Witch | $4.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Frozen Dungeon | |
 | The Swarm 2 | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Solsgames | |
 | Gravitaws | $12.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Coleowing | |
 | Slightly Overweight Superhero and the seven levels of death | $8.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Nathan Laird | |
 | Mythos Mission: Sunken Kingdom | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | OLIVANGO |
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.