Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Souls-like?
Souls-like + Top-Down Shooter
Only 13 developers shipped a Top-Down Shooter Souls-like in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, ButtKnight, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×260 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 27 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) |
| Top 5% | $389k (exactly $389,310) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action RPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,579 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
ButtKnight 2025 · $389k 
DAMON and BABY 2026 · $52k 
Pixel Survivors : Roguelike 2023 · $45k 
Dead 2018 · $38k 
SEX with HITLER: WW2 2023 · $35k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ButtKnight | $9.99 | 1,299 91% | 39k | $389k (exactly $389,310) | Goblin Stew, Critical Bliss | |
| | DAMON and BABY | $19.99 | 87 89% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | Arc System Works | |
| | Pixel Survivors : Roguelike | older | $3.99 | 374 79% | 11k | $45k (exactly $44,768) | Amrita |
| | Dead | older | $4.99 | 257 91% | 7.7k | $38k (exactly $38,473) | Alec Smith, Dane Winn |
| | SEX with HITLER: WW2 | older | $3.99 | 291 76% | 8.7k | $35k (exactly $34,833) | Adolf Games |
 | Marmoreal | · EA older | $14.99 | 43 95% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $19,337) | Marmoreal Games |
 | Shell of a King | $9.99 | 58 100% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Rosune | |
 | Battle Craft | older | $17.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Yaremchuk |
 | Aris Arcanum | $14.99 | 19 73% | 570 | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) | Broken Cane | |
 | Dark Sword: The Light of Ainn | $3.99 | 63 93% | 1.9k | $7.5k (exactly $7,541) | MrDoth | |
 | Just Move:Clean City Messy Battle | $15.99 | 11 45% | 330 | $5.3k (exactly $5,277) | daminggede | |
 | Just Move Fall Dungeon Endless Abyss | $15.99 | 8 50% | 240 | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) | daminggede | |
 | Releaseburg | $9.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | SteadyBoar | |
 | Dracs After Dusk | $3.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) | OliveHillStudios | |
 | Vindictive Drive 2: Maidbot Archive | $2.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) | Bokensha Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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