Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Visual Novel
Only 10 developers shipped a Visual Novel 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, RANDOMAX, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $20k, ×42 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 12 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $390 (exactly $390) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) |
| Top 5% | $20k (exactly $20,080) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Top-Down Shooter, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 8 games average 74% positive over 257 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + VampiresFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + World War IIFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcheryFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Tactical RPGPoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SEX with HITLER | older | $6.99 | 3,358 81% | 101k | $704k (exactly $704,173) | Adolf Games |
| | Miss Neko: Pirates | older | $3.99 | 1,395 83% | 42k | $167k (exactly $166,982) | Orangeee |
| | Captain Firehawk and the Laser Love Situation | older | $9.99 | 213 81% | 6.4k | $64k (exactly $63,836) | Portland Caviar |
| | Grand Pigeon's Duty | older | $3.99 | 448 76% | 13k | $54k (exactly $53,626) | WolfgangIs |
| | Yurukill: The Calumniation Games | older | $19.99 | 64 76% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $38,381) | IzanagiGames, G.rev Ltd., ESQUADRA,inc. |
| | RANDOMAX | $9.99 | 67 92% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $20,080) | ASTRO PORT | |
| | Sierra Ops - Space Strategy Visual Novel | older | $14.99 | 42 80% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Innomen Team |
| | Sexy Iron Maidens | $4.99 | 123 69% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | Earl Marx | |
| | WarForwards | older | $9.99 | 47 78% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | Roman Pak |
| | Die Again | older | $12.99 | 31 90% | 930 | $12k (exactly $12,081) | VarnGameDev |
| | BATTLERCORE: TEAM BLAZER | $14.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | SCARLET-G | |
| | Doki Doki Sharky Days | $3.99 | 25 64% | 750 | $3.0k (exactly $2,992) | Blue Fin Games | |
| | IMRY | $4.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Igor Yakunin | |
| | Idol Hacked! | $1.99 | 16 43% | 480 | $955 (exactly $955) | theNeko | |
| | Unity-Chan: Desktop Companion | $12.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Jacopo Dev | |
| | Magic Ball Breaker | $4.90 | 2 100% | 60 | $294 (exactly $294) | Somel | |
| | Final Rider | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Delirium Interactive | |
| | Paid By Blood | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | HU JIA XI |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.