Games › Tactical › Tactical + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Tactical game?
Tactical + Top-Down Shooter
Of 88 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Tactical 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.. 179 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 55 developers shipped in the last year and 179 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 5% | $278k (exactly $277,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 88 |
| Released games | 259 |
| Announced | 179 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 60% 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.
- Tactical
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, 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 93% positive over 25,127 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 179 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Foxhole 2022 · $43M 
Aliens: Dark Descent 2023 · $18M 
Door Kickers 2: Task Force North 2025 · $9.2M 
RUNNING WITH RIFLES 2015 · $6.6M 
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M | 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 |
| | Aliens: Dark Descent | older | $39.99 | 15,310 87% | 459k | $18M (exactly $18,367,407) | Tindalos Interactive |
| | Door Kickers 2: Task Force North | $24.99 | 12,324 96% | 370k | $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) | KillHouse Games | |
| | RUNNING WITH RIFLES | older | $14.99 | 14,676 87% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Osumia Games |
| | SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising | older | $19.99 | 10,111 94% | 303k | $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) | Flow Fire 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 |
 | Heat Signature | older | $14.99 | 6,849 94% | 205k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,995) | Suspicious Developments |
 | Intravenous 2 | older | $19.99 | 4,069 95% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,440,179) | Explosive Squat Games |
 | Cleared Hot | · EA | $17.99 | 3,934 96% | 118k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) | Not Knowing Corporation |
 | Suit for Hire | $14.99 | 3,263 92% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,371) | Godmode Interactive | |
 | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | 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 |
 | Metal Thunder | · EA | $10.99 | 567 76% | 17k | $187k (exactly $186,940) | Dumbbell Games |
 | Phantom Squad | $13.99 | 416 80% | 12k | $175k (exactly $174,595) | Ctrl Freak | |
 | CyberCorp | $14.99 | 351 75% | 11k | $158k (exactly $157,845) | Megame LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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