Do I ship it?

GamesShooterShooter + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel Shooter?

Shooter + Time Travel

Of 21 developers who shipped a Time-Travel 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.. 55 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×221 the market median. Revenue is up 745% on the market; 55 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 745% on the market, 55 announced, ×6.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $479 → $4.0k → $300 → $2.5k → $284k (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,795)
Top 5% $139k (exactly $138,694)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 78
Announced 55
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 745% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Shooter
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Time Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, Survival
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,413 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 $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $4.7k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair23 devs · median $9.8k · 17 announced
  2. + CollectathonFair69 devs · median $1.4k · 64 announced
  3. + VampiresFair38 devs · median $1.3k · 41 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorFair68 devs · median $1.2k · 62 announced
  5. + IdlerFair70 devs · median $836 · 59 announced
  6. + Match 3Fair15 devs · median $719 · 5 announced
  7. + SnowFair22 devs · median $570 · 23 announced
  8. + Boss RushFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair85 devs · median $479 · 88 announced
  10. + ArcadeLong shot1,151 devs · median $419 · 1,332 announced
  11. + Score AttackLong shot372 devs · median $300 · 352 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds25 devs · median $139k · 45 announced

All 229 pairs on the Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
BioShock Infinite older $29.99 109,718 93% 3.3M $99M (exactly $98,713,285) Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (… (Irrational Games, Virtual Programming (Linux))
Quantum Break older $39.99 23,141 86% 694k $28M (exactly $27,762,258) Remedy Entertainment
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
Chop Goblins older $4.99 2,881 97% 86k $431k (exactly $431,286) David Szymanski
Dino Crisis $9.99 947 80% 28k $284k (exactly $283,816) CAPCOM Co., Ltd., GOG.com
Supplice · EA older $14.99 533 87% 16k $240k (exactly $239,690) Mekworx
Dino Crisis 2 $9.99 709 87% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) CAPCOM Co., Ltd., GOG.com
Daikatana older $6.99 806 58% 24k $169k (exactly $169,018) Ion Storm
Pizza Bandit · EA $24.99 185 82% 5.6k $139k (exactly $138,694) JOFSOFT
Time Treker $6.99 399 65% 12k $84k (exactly $83,670) Fuse Game
Temporal Purge: Z $4.99 56 85% 1.7k $8.4k (exactly $8,383) Exec Games
NeverCOM · EA $4.99 49 95% 1.5k $7.3k (exactly $7,335) Shenzhen Huajian Network Technology Co.… (Shenzhen Huajian Network Technology Co., Ltd)
RuinsStory $9.99 16 100% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) ilili_world
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
Knights In A Different SpaceTime $11.99 11 100% 330 $4.0k (exactly $3,957) Destreon Games

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