Do I ship it?

Games › Shooter › Shooter + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Shooter?

Shooter + Traditional Roguelike

Of 28 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike 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.. 22 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 22 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 22 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shooter + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $239 → $119 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shooter + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 5% $22k (exactly $22,438)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 46
Announced 22
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 80% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Traditional Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Traditional Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Bullet Hell, Roguelike, Action
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 408 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $240, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $22k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shooter with a different second tag, 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

Jupiter Hell 2021 · $1.3M Girl Frame 2025 · $31k Book Shooter 2025 · $22k KUNKUN League 2024 · $11k Autogun Heroes: Supercharged 2025 · $4.9k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Jupiter Hell older $24.99 1,795 91% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) ChaosForge
Girl Frame $14.99 69 68% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) Meow Run, Cat Shine
Book Shooter $6.99 107 86% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,438) SOS GameLab.
KUNKUN League $2.99 123 98% 3.7k $11k (exactly $11,033) Seal
Autogun Heroes: Supercharged $12.49 13 46% 390 $4.9k (exactly $4,871) Nitro Games
Spaceship Simulator older $6.99 23 78% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) chenjd
Chronos Trap in Time $12.99 11 100% 330 $4.3k (exactly $4,287) SCS Ogonvard AB
Hero of Not Our Time older $0.99 124 70% 3.7k $3.7k (exactly $3,683) Hide Head
Curse Rounds $3.99 28 92% 840 $3.4k (exactly $3,352) TENTACLES INTERACTIVE
Protean Fox $6.99 11 100% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) Cat Play
Goblin Town · EA older $6.99 11 45% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) RiceCrab Studios
Space Vomit $3.99 19 100% 570 $2.3k (exactly $2,274) TENTACLES INTERACTIVE
BattleshipCrafting $5.99 10 100% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) 洛米条
Entity Strike · EA $2.99 17 94% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Tropical Pixel Studios

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