Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + War
Should I ship a War Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + War
Of 63 developers who shipped a War Top-Down Shooter 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.. 108 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 40 developers shipped in the last year and 108 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $298 (exactly $298) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 5% | $278k (exactly $277,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 217 |
| Announced | 108 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 50% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Top-Down Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- War
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Shooter
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 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 $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 18,475 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different setting or mood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Door Kickers 2: Task Force North | $24.99 | 12,324 96% | 370k | $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) | KillHouse Games | |
| | Cleared Hot | · EA | $17.99 | 3,934 96% | 118k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,180) | Not Knowing Corporation |
| | Taur | older | $24.99 | 2,011 79% | 60k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,647) | Echo Entertainment |
| | Sky Force Reloaded | older | $9.99 | 2,687 92% | 81k | $805k (exactly $805,294) | Infinite Dreams |
| | Sky Force Anniversary | older | $9.99 | 2,091 92% | 63k | $627k (exactly $626,673) | Infinite Dreams |
| | METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake | older | $19.99 | 775 83% | 23k | $465k (exactly $464,767) | KONAMI |
| | Renegade Ops | older | $15.00 | 1,005 85% | 30k | $452k (exactly $452,250) | Avalanche Studios |
| | Cyberhunt | older | $4.99 | 2,741 84% | 82k | $410k (exactly $410,328) | NukGames |
| | 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 | |
| | Metal Thunder | · EA | $10.99 | 567 76% | 17k | $187k (exactly $186,940) | Dumbbell Games |
| | INSANIO | $9.99 | 48 66% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,386) | somebody | |
| | TOUHOU RHAPSODY OF MOON RABBIT | · EA | $9.99 | 47 82% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,086) | 瓦尔基里游戏 |
| | Banner of Conquest | $4.99 | 89 65% | 2.7k | $13k (exactly $13,323) | Haojoy Game | |
| | Astro Fighters | $8.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $7.8k (exactly $7,821) | Paul Connor | |
| | Frogmageddon | $4.99 | 45 91% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Frog Mage Udon, Sunset Dreamland |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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