Games › Shooter › Shooter + Time Manipulation
Should I ship a Time Manipulation Shooter?
Shooter + Time Manipulation
Of 38 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation 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.. 74 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $990, ×1.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $20k, ×32 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 74 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $987 (exactly $987) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) |
| Top 5% | $20k (exactly $20,390) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 133 |
| Announced | 74 |
| 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 down 60% on the market, supply 25% 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.
- Shooter
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Shooter, Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Time, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized, 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 78% positive over 298 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. All of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DEATHLOOP | older | $59.99 | 19,910 76% | 597k | $36M (exactly $35,832,027) | Arkane Studios |
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | SUPERHOT | older | $24.99 | 27,765 91% | 833k | $21M (exactly $20,815,420) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE | older | $24.99 | 9,247 85% | 277k | $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | SUPERHOT VR | older | $24.99 | 7,978 82% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) | SUPERHOT Team |
| | Singularity™ | older | $29.99 | 5,487 93% | 165k | $4.9M (exactly $4,936,654) | Raven Software |
| | TimeShift™ | older | $19.99 | 1,131 80% | 34k | $678k (exactly $678,261) | Saber Interactive |
| | Super Time Force Ultra | older | $14.99 | 677 90% | 20k | $304k (exactly $304,447) | Capybara Games |
| | Bullet Sorrow VR | older | $19.99 | 272 83% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | VikingVRStudio |
| | Sine Mora EX | older | $9.99 | 463 66% | 14k | $139k (exactly $138,761) | Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufactur… (Digital Reality, Grasshopper Manufacture, Gyroscope Games) |
| | Otherskin | $29.99 | 63 69% | 1.9k | $57k (exactly $56,681) | Game Atelier | |
| | Vendetta Forever | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Meatspace Interactive | |
| | COLD VR | $19.99 | 28 60% | 840 | $17k (exactly $16,792) | ALLWARE LLC | |
| | Shadows of Soldiers | $9.99 | 45 75% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $13,486) | Ghost in the Wire | |
| | SPEEDSHOT | $14.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | karmacode | |
| | Time Hacker | $14.99 | 24 70% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Joy Way | |
| | Duck Paradox | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Magic Games | |
| | AIRANBLADE | $8.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $4.6k (exactly $4,585) | ANIMABOX | |
| | CYBER92 DATAWAR | $9.92 | 14 50% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,166) | Cyber92 Solo Developer | |
| | GOST of Time | $4.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | IzHard |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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