Games › Shooter › Shooter + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Shooter?
Shooter + Thriller
Of 110 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 160 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×354 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 160 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,814) |
| Top 5% | $222k (exactly $222,295) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 110 |
| Released games | 248 |
| Announced | 160 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 180% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, FPS
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 13,562 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 160 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Last of Us™ Part I | older | $59.99 | 65,259 85% | 2.0M | $117M (exactly $117,446,622) | Naughty Dog LLC, Iron Galaxy Studios |
| | Alan Wake | older | $14.99 | 45,662 89% | 1.4M | $21M (exactly $20,534,201) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | Choo-Choo Charles | older | $19.99 | 16,292 91% | 489k | $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) | Two Star Games |
| | Dead Space™ 3 | older | $19.99 | 12,238 72% | 367k | $7.3M (exactly $7,339,129) | Visceral Games |
| | The Killing Antidote | · EA | $29.99 | 7,512 88% | 225k | $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) | MetalStar Studio |
| | F.E.A.R. | older | $9.99 | 14,017 93% | 421k | $4.2M (exactly $4,200,895) | Monolith Productions, Inc., Timegate |
| | Hidden Deep | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,293 76% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,218,462) | Cogwheel Software |
| | Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home | older | $29.99 | 3,006 83% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,704,498) | TeamKRAMA |
| | Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo | older | $29.99 | 2,718 95% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,445,385) | ωstar, Seikei Production |
| | Alan Wake's American Nightmare | older | $8.99 | 8,352 74% | 251k | $2.3M (exactly $2,252,534) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | The Thing: Remastered | $29.99 | 1,203 89% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) | Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks | |
| | Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone | · EA | $24.99 | 1,180 78% | 35k | $885k (exactly $884,646) | ANB_Seth |
| | Clawed | $19.99 | 729 52% | 22k | $437k (exactly $437,181) | Flatrock Games | |
| | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
| | Sniper Killer | $11.99 | 618 86% | 19k | $222k (exactly $222,295) | Black Eyed Priest, Henry Hoare | |
| | KILLER INN | · EA | $9.99 | 670 44% | 20k | $201k (exactly $200,799) | Square Enix, Tactic Studios |
| | They Killed Your Cat | $6.99 | 883 75% | 26k | $185k (exactly $185,165) | Vekaria | |
| | Flesh Made Fear | $17.99 | 279 92% | 8.4k | $151k (exactly $150,576) | Tainted Pact | |
| | La Quimera | · EA | $29.99 | 167 51% | 5.0k | $150k (exactly $150,250) | Reburn |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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