Do I ship it?

Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + War

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a War Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + War

Of 70 developers who shipped a War Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 95 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60. 95 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 70% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 95 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + War
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 70
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $719 → $987 → $1.9k → $1.4k → $898 → $360 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + War: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 70
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $17,498)
Developers, 2 yr 70
Released games 316
Announced 95
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 70% on the market, supply 30% more developers than 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.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
War
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Retro
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 78% positive over 1,111 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Crysis 3 Remastered 2022 · $7.0M Sky Force Reloaded 2017 · $805k Blazing Chrome 2019 · $676k Sky Force Anniversary 2015 · $627k Jets'n'Guns 2 2020 · $559k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Sky Force Reloaded older $9.99 2,687 92% 81k $805k (exactly $805,294) Infinite Dreams
Blazing Chrome older $16.99 1,326 89% 40k $676k (exactly $675,862) JoyMasher
Sky Force Anniversary older $9.99 2,091 92% 63k $627k (exactly $626,673) Infinite Dreams
Jets'n'Guns 2 older $15.99 1,165 90% 35k $559k (exactly $558,850) Rake in Grass
Renegade Ops older $15.00 1,005 85% 30k $452k (exactly $452,250) Avalanche Studios
Cyberhunt older $4.99 2,741 84% 82k $410k (exactly $410,328) NukGames
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing older $29.99 448 60% 13k $403k (exactly $403,066) KeelWorks
Project Gunship · EA older $14.99 836 75% 25k $376k (exactly $375,949) Sklorite Studios LLC
Castle Of Alchemists $14.99 618 80% 19k $278k (exactly $277,915) Team Machiavelli
UNDER DEFEAT $19.99 81 95% 2.4k $49k (exactly $48,576) CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF
Blitzkrieg Express $4.99 121 74% 3.6k $18k (exactly $18,114) Maksym Melnyk
Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli $7.99 73 71% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) AIx2 Games
FZ: Formation Z $29.99 16 87% 480 $14k (exactly $14,395) Granzella Inc.
Banner of Conquest $4.99 89 65% 2.7k $13k (exactly $13,323) Haojoy Game
Gun Reflex VR $8.99 42 61% 1.3k $11k (exactly $11,327) OBGames
Space Dragons $9.99 36 83% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) TEAM Black Hat Robot
The Long Survival · EA $19.99 14 71% 420 $8.4k (exactly $8,396) Friendly Fire Studios
Kamikaze Empire $12.99 21 100% 630 $8.2k (exactly $8,184) Kamikaze Kobo

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