Games › Shooter › Shooter + Swordplay
Should I ship a Swordplay Shooter?
Shooter + Swordplay
Of 27 developers who shipped a Swordplay Shooter 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.. 56 more are announced, ×5.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×858 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 56 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $836 (exactly $836) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,372) |
| Top 5% | $539k (exactly $538,531) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 93 |
| Announced | 56 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Swordplay; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 4,542 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + SnowFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
Ghostrunner 2020 · $42M 
Bright Memory: Infinite 2021 · $22M 
Shadow Warrior 2 2016 · $22M 
Shadow Warrior 2013 · $14M 
STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy™ 2009 · $3.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ghostrunner | older | $29.99 | 46,818 91% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,122,155) | One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Iro… (One More Level, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks™, All in! Games) |
| | Bright Memory: Infinite | older | $19.99 | 36,229 91% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,726,531) | FYQD-Studio |
| | Shadow Warrior 2 | older | $29.99 | 24,120 87% | 724k | $22M (exactly $21,700,764) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | Shadow Warrior | older | $29.99 | 15,960 92% | 479k | $14M (exactly $14,359,212) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy™ | older | $9.99 | 11,290 96% | 339k | $3.4M (exactly $3,383,613) | Raven Software |
 | Wanted: Dead | older | $29.99 | 1,373 67% | 41k | $1.2M (exactly $1,235,288) | Soleil Ltd. |
 | STAR WARS™ Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast™ | older | $9.99 | 4,048 91% | 121k | $1.2M (exactly $1,213,186) | Raven Software |
 | Rustler (Grand Theft Horse) | older | $24.99 | 1,227 78% | 37k | $920k (exactly $919,882) | Jutsu Games |
 | Arken Age | $39.99 | 669 90% | 20k | $803k (exactly $802,599) | VitruviusVR | |
 | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
 | Yasuke Simulator | $6.99 | 1,925 97% | 58k | $404k (exactly $403,672) | HistoryAccurateDevelopers | |
 | DAVY x JONES | · EA | $17.99 | 389 82% | 12k | $210k (exactly $209,943) | PARASIGHT |
 | Yuri Sword Saga | $10.99 | 212 97% | 6.4k | $70k (exactly $69,896) | Pico Games | |
 | Hell of an Office | $14.99 | 121 89% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | 43 Studios | |
 | Lia: Hacking Destiny | $14.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $41k (exactly $41,372) | Orube Game Studio | |
 | 宗门最后的长老 | $2.99 | 99 96% | 3.0k | $8.9k (exactly $8,880) | KUMA studio | |
 | Dark Sword: The Light of Ainn | $3.99 | 63 93% | 1.9k | $7.5k (exactly $7,541) | MrDoth | |
 | Great Tough Bikini 6 | $2.99 | 74 70% | 2.2k | $6.6k (exactly $6,638) | nStarcube |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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