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Should I ship a Twin Stick Shooter Strategy game?
Strategy + Twin Stick Shooter
Of 37 developers who shipped a Twin Stick 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.. 69 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 69 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper, while revenue is down 45% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 5% | $244k (exactly $243,656) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 121 |
| Announced | 69 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Twin Stick 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, Twin Stick Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 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 $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 9,742 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 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
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
Rogue: Genesia 2025 · $3.6M 
War Mongrels 2021 · $2.5M 
X-Morph: Defense 2017 · $2.0M 
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | Rogue: Genesia | $14.99 | 8,111 90% | 243k | $3.6M (exactly $3,647,517) | Ouadi Huard | |
| | War Mongrels | older | $44.99 | 1,826 72% | 55k | $2.5M (exactly $2,464,552) | Destructive Creations |
| | X-Morph: Defense | older | $19.99 | 3,272 90% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | EXOR Studios |
| | ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,953 64% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
 | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
 | Decision: Red Daze | older | $19.99 | 855 74% | 26k | $513k (exactly $512,743) | FlyAnvil |
 | CRYPTARK | older | $14.99 | 912 83% | 27k | $410k (exactly $410,126) | Alientrap |
 | Halo: Spartan Assault | older | $2.99 | 4,397 78% | 132k | $394k (exactly $394,411) | Vanguard Games, 343 Industries |
 | Yet Another Zombie Defense HD | older | $3.99 | 2,561 84% | 77k | $307k (exactly $306,552) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | Mech Havoc | · EA | $9.99 | 813 96% | 24k | $244k (exactly $243,656) | Mid Development |
 | The Ember Guardian | $19.99 | 278 82% | 8.3k | $167k (exactly $166,717) | Ratbit Games | |
 | Evolve or Die | $4.99 | 252 98% | 7.6k | $38k (exactly $37,724) | Seal | |
 | Reflex Unit: Strike Ops | $15.99 | 75 84% | 2.3k | $36k (exactly $35,978) | ROBOSARU Games | |
 | Cast Out Colony | $9.99 | 72 91% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,578) | Wooshido | |
 | Bonelords | $6.99 | 94 92% | 2.8k | $20k (exactly $19,712) | Z0 Game Studios | |
 | Bumper Blitz TD | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Ragnarok Studios | |
 | Goo Goo Grapplers | $7.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | Both Good | |
 | Cloudbreaker | $12.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | Ballast Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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