Games › Strategy › Strategy + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Strategy game?
Strategy + Top-Down Shooter
Of 192 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Strategy game 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.. 302 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 114 developers shipped in the last year and 302 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) |
| Top 5% | $83k (exactly $83,414) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 192 |
| Released games | 579 |
| Announced | 302 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 105% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Shooter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 17,915 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 97 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 302 games are announced against 114 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Foxhole 2022 · $43M 
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M 
Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M 
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North 2025 · $9.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Foxhole | older | $29.99 | 47,330 79% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $42,582,801) | Siege Camp |
| | Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | older | $34.99 | 32,183 85% | 965k | $34M (exactly $33,782,495) | Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft |
| | Aliens: Dark Descent | older | $39.99 | 15,310 87% | 459k | $18M (exactly $18,367,407) | Tindalos Interactive |
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Door Kickers 2: Task Force North | $24.99 | 12,324 96% | 370k | $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) | KillHouse Games | |
 | Door Kickers | older | $19.99 | 8,041 94% | 241k | $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) | KillHouse Games |
 | Police Stories | older | $19.99 | 7,893 85% | 237k | $4.7M (exactly $4,733,432) | HypeTrain Digital |
 | 20 Minutes Till Dawn | older | $4.99 | 27,872 90% | 836k | $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) | flanne |
 | Heat Signature | older | $14.99 | 6,849 94% | 205k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,995) | Suspicious Developments |
 | X-Morph: Defense | older | $19.99 | 3,272 90% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | EXOR Studios |
 | Dinotica | $17.99 | 746 86% | 22k | $403k (exactly $402,616) | XA Studio | |
 | Asgard's Fall — Viking Survivors | $9.99 | 1,301 79% | 39k | $390k (exactly $389,910) | Soulpotion | |
 | Trench Lord: Eastern Front | $11.99 | 774 83% | 23k | $278k (exactly $278,408) | Tracer Studio, LING YUN CO.,LTD. | |
 | Castle Of Alchemists | $14.99 | 618 80% | 19k | $278k (exactly $277,915) | Team Machiavelli | |
 | Mech Havoc | · EA | $9.99 | 813 96% | 24k | $244k (exactly $243,656) | Mid Development |
 | Enter the Chronosphere | · EA | $14.99 | 420 94% | 13k | $189k (exactly $188,874) | Effort Star |
 | PROHIBEAST | $34.99 | 121 57% | 3.6k | $127k (exactly $127,014) | SUPER AC | |
 | SHOOPER NOVA | $6.99 | 545 83% | 16k | $114k (exactly $114,286) | Jamesika | |
 | Desperate Place | $10.99 | 253 66% | 7.6k | $83k (exactly $83,414) | BruceGalaxy |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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