Do I ship it?

GamesTop-Down ShooterTop-Down Shooter + Thriller

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Thriller Top-Down Shooter?

Top-Down Shooter + Thriller

Only 9 developers shipped a Thriller Top-Down Shooter 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, Touhou ~Red Empress Devil., made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×7.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $360 against a market of $480. 21 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 21 announced, ×7.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Top-Down Shooter + Thriller
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $898 → $238 → $5.1k
Outcomes for Top-Down Shooter + Thriller: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $4.7k (exactly $4,676)
Top 5% $118k (exactly $118,129)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 34
Announced 21
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $8.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Thriller
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Top-Down Shooter
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,748 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + VampiresFair16 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Turn-Based StrategyFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  3. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 15 announced
  4. + IdlerFair24 devs · median $748 · 30 announced
  5. + ArcheryFair9 devs · median $359 · 11 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 28 announced
  7. + Tactical RPGPoor odds12 devs · median $5.5k · 16 announced
  8. + Action RTSPoor odds14 devs · median $4.0k · 32 announced
  9. + HistoricalPoor odds18 devs · median $3.3k · 24 announced
  10. + ModernPoor odds13 devs · median $3.3k · 19 announced
  11. + CraftingPoor odds45 devs · median $3.1k · 125 announced
  12. + DystopianPoor odds24 devs · median $3.1k · 92 announced

All 150 pairs on the Top-Down Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
D'LIRIUM older $4.99 987 96% 30k $148k (exactly $147,754) B52 Development Team
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. $8.99 438 70% 13k $118k (exactly $118,129) STUDIO POCO
Deep Eclipse: New Space Odyssey older $6.99 165 73% 5.0k $35k (exactly $34,600) Ultravision Interactive
Whacking Hell! older $9.99 36 72% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) Sanuk Games
Survivors Of The Zombie World · EA older $5.99 54 79% 1.6k $9.7k (exactly $9,704) Dafu Game Studio
AT SUNDOWN: Shots in the Dark older $9.99 27 55% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Mildbeast
Blackout Memphis $9.99 17 94% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) Chrimial UG
Bullet Noir $11.99 13 100% 390 $4.7k (exactly $4,676) WOLCEN Studio
Junebug vs. Evil · EA older $9.99 8 100% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) Eldritch Heart Studio
Folletti older $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Casey Rowley, Yezac Folletti
Final Hunter $4.99 6 50% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Game Matrix
Box Game $3.99 3 100% 90 $359 (exactly $359) BowieK
FUEL & FURY $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Rubicon Game Studios
Smogshadow Hunter $0.99 1 0% 30 $30 (exactly $30) AA Mini Games Studio
Dead Escape $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Iced Choccy
逃离感化院 The Reformatory $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Pan

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