Do I ship it?

Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shooter Souls-like?

Souls-like + Shooter

Of 61 developers who shipped a Shooter Souls-like 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.. 110 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $880k, ×593 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 110 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 110 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $35k → $52k → $450 → $2.3k → $3.3k → $2.7k → $1.8k (still earning) → $958 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Souls-like + Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $19,726)
Top 5% $889k (exactly $888,755)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 168
Announced 110
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $6.00

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 flat on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like, Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
Price point
$6.00 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 26,027 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $880k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 110 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + JRPGFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  6. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  7. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  9. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  10. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  11. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  12. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

REMNANT II® 2023 · $69M Remnant: From the Ashes 2019 · $57M Bright Memory: Infinite 2021 · $22M Witchfire 2024 · EA · $21M Bright Memory 2020 · $7.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
REMNANT II® older $49.99 46,219 82% 1.4M $69M (exactly $69,314,634) Gunfire Games
Remnant: From the Ashes older $39.99 47,193 84% 1.4M $57M (exactly $56,617,442) Gunfire Games
Bright Memory: Infinite older $19.99 36,229 91% 1.1M $22M (exactly $21,726,531) FYQD-Studio
Witchfire · EA $39.99 17,131 91% 514k $21M (exactly $20,552,061) The Astronauts
Bright Memory older $7.99 30,166 89% 905k $7.2M (exactly $7,230,790) FYQD-Studio
Blood West older $24.99 6,132 90% 184k $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) Hyperstrange
SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash older $29.99 3,885 81% 117k $3.5M (exactly $3,495,334) Tamsoft
To Be or Not to Be older $12.99 8,035 89% 241k $3.1M (exactly $3,131,240) Team K
VR Kanojo / VRカノジョ older $49.99 1,767 76% 53k $2.6M (exactly $2,649,970) ILLUSION
Psycho Patrol R · EA $39.99 2,090 88% 63k $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) Consumer Softproducts
Dolls Nest $19.99 2,421 88% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,451,874) NITRO PLUS
Mohrta $19.99 1,482 91% 44k $889k (exactly $888,755) Scumhead, Osiol
Warhounds $34.99 735 71% 22k $772k (exactly $771,530) Everplay DMCC
Moros Protocol $24.99 731 81% 22k $548k (exactly $548,031) Pixel Reign
Trench Tales · EA $24.99 601 69% 18k $451k (exactly $450,570) Talking Drums
The Axis Unseen $24.99 309 75% 9.3k $232k (exactly $231,657) Just Purkey Games
Gun Frog $4.99 433 94% 13k $65k (exactly $64,820) Zoteling
ENCHAIN · EA $19.99 94 96% 2.8k $56k (exactly $56,372) mattlawrdev

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