Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Western
Should I ship a Western Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Western
Of 22 developers who shipped a Western 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.. 27 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $53k, ×85 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 27 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $2.3k (exactly $2,332) |
| Top 5% | $54k (exactly $53,693) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 55% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Western
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Top-Down Shooter; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Bullet Hell
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 541 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
12 is Better Than 6 2015 · $1.3M 
West of Dead 2020 · $773k 
Colt Canyon 2020 · $694k 
Bounty of One 2023 · $576k 
Kill The Crows 2023 · $426k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 12 is Better Than 6 | older | $9.99 | 4,348 83% | 130k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,096) | Ink Stains Games |
| | West of Dead | older | $19.99 | 1,289 76% | 39k | $773k (exactly $773,013) | Upstream Arcade |
| | Colt Canyon | older | $14.99 | 1,543 90% | 46k | $694k (exactly $693,887) | Retrific |
| | Bounty of One | older | $6.99 | 2,749 88% | 82k | $576k (exactly $576,465) | OptizOnion |
| | Kill The Crows | older | $4.99 | 2,848 95% | 85k | $426k (exactly $426,346) | 5minlab Corp. |
 | Bloodroots | older | $19.99 | 230 89% | 6.9k | $138k (exactly $137,931) | Paper Cult |
 | Dino Path Trail | $14.99 | 197 76% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | Void Pointer | |
 | Graveyard Gunslingers | $7.99 | 224 58% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | PyroPhysics | |
 | A Fistful of Gun | older | $9.99 | 137 59% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | FarmerGnome |
 | Ritual: Crown of Horns | older | $19.99 | 58 68% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | Draw Distance |
 | PIZZA WESTERN 🍕 | $29.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $9.0k (exactly $8,997) | Lola Fisher | |
 | Dust & Courage: Jake Bolton’s Journey | $7.99 | 23 86% | 690 | $5.5k (exactly $5,513) | Storyforge Games | |
 | Westild's Law | $5.99 | 27 92% | 810 | $4.9k (exactly $4,852) | BUG-Studio | |
 | a FISTFUL of COWBOYS | $2.99 | 26 100% | 780 | $2.3k (exactly $2,332) | frog 🐸 | |
 | West Escape | $5.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $2.0k (exactly $1,977) | Estoty | |
 | Dracs After Dusk | $3.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) | OliveHillStudios | |
 | Rootin' Tootin' Lootin' & Shootin' | $8.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.6k (exactly $1,618) | Raspberry Jam | |
 | Revolvermen | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Oskar Wetterbrandt |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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