Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Hero Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter

Of 237 developers who shipped a Hero 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.. 403 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build. 118 developers shipped in the last year and 403 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 403 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 237
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $898 → $570 → $987 → $239 → $478 → $600 → $359 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 237
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $3.3k (exactly $3,297)
Top 5% $201k (exactly $200,799)
Developers, 2 yr 237
Released games 994
Announced 403
Effort 9 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hero Shooter
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 60,931 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $200k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 168 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 403 games are announced against 118 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Hero Shooter

65 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Hero Shooter + Simulation Long shot $478 31 devs
  2. Hero Shooter + Bullet Hell Long shot $449 59 devs
  3. Hero Shooter + Boomer Shooter Long shot $210 30 devs
  4. Hero Shooter + Online Co-Op Poor odds $7.2k 20 devs
  5. Battle Royale + Hero Shooter Poor odds $3.6k 9 devs
  6. Hero Shooter + Co-op Poor odds $3.6k 22 devs
  7. Hero Shooter + PvP Poor odds $2.3k 27 devs
  8. Hero Shooter + Platformer Poor odds $2.2k 21 devs
  9. Hero Shooter + Character Customization Poor odds $2.1k 25 devs
  10. Hero Shooter + Physics Poor odds $1.6k 27 devs
  11. Hero Shooter + Survival Poor odds $899 31 devs
  12. Hero Shooter + Exploration Poor odds $899 27 devs
  13. Hero Shooter + Gun Customization Poor odds $899 12 devs
  14. Hero Shooter + 2D Platformer Poor odds $898 28 devs
  15. Hero Shooter + Action Roguelike Poor odds $807 41 devs
  16. Hero Shooter + Roguelite Poor odds $807 29 devs
  17. Hero Shooter + Tower Defense Poor odds $716 16 devs
  18. Hero Shooter + Roguelike Poor odds $659 32 devs
  19. Hero Shooter + Tactical Poor odds $659 19 devs
  20. Hero Shooter + FPS Poor odds $600 70 devs
  21. Hero Shooter + Third-Person Shooter Poor odds $599 57 devs
  22. Hero Shooter + PvE Poor odds $599 49 devs
  23. Hero Shooter + Action-Adventure Poor odds $479 94 devs
  24. Hero Shooter + Beat 'em up Poor odds $478 18 devs
  25. Hero Shooter + Shoot 'Em Up Poor odds $449 60 devs
  26. Hero Shooter + Bullet Time Poor odds $449 12 devs
  27. Hero Shooter + Combat Poor odds $208 90 devs
  28. Hero Shooter + Open World Poor odds $179 19 devs
  29. Hero Shooter + Wargame Poor odds $60 12 devs
  30. Hero Shooter + Class-Based Dead $132k 7 devs
  31. Hero Shooter + MOBA Dead $49k 5 devs
  32. Hero Shooter + On-Rails Shooter Dead $3.1k 4 devs
  33. Hero Shooter + Runner Dead $2.2k 6 devs
  34. Hero Shooter + Survival Horror Dead $1.8k 14 devs
  35. Hero Shooter + Stealth Dead $1.4k 10 devs
  36. Hero Shooter + Hidden Object Dead $1.2k 7 devs
  37. Hero Shooter + Twin Stick Shooter Dead $899 8 devs
  38. Hero Shooter + Hack and Slash Dead $807 7 devs
  39. Hero Shooter + Shooter Dead $449 190 devs
  40. Hero Shooter + Vehicular Combat Dead $449 7 devs
  41. Hero Shooter + Flight Dead $449 6 devs
  42. Hero Shooter + Arena Shooter Dead $446 71 devs
  43. Hero Shooter + Puzzle Dead $360 16 devs
  44. Hero Shooter + Action Dead $359 220 devs
  45. Hero Shooter + Destruction Dead $359 5 devs
  46. Hero Shooter + Sports Dead $300 9 devs
  47. Hero Shooter + Adventure Dead $299 112 devs
  48. Hero Shooter + Top-Down Shooter Dead $299 38 devs
  49. Hero Shooter + Action RPG Dead $297 32 devs
  50. Hero Shooter + Arcade Dead $240 82 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Battlefield™ 2042 2021 · $468M Call of Duty®: Black Ops III 2015 · $284M Titanfall® 2 2020 · $229M Marathon 2026 · $54M Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition 2022 · $41M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Battlefield™ 2042 older $59.99 260,308 49% 7.8M $468M (exactly $468,476,308) DICE
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III older $59.99 157,694 88% 4.7M $284M (exactly $283,801,892) Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac)
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition older $29.99 45,480 90% 1.4M $41M (exactly $40,918,356) PopCap
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare older $59.99 17,489 65% 525k $31M (exactly $31,474,953) Infinity Ward
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ older $29.99 15,372 71% 461k $14M (exactly $13,830,188) PopCap
Crysis 2 Remastered older $29.99 9,034 89% 271k $8.1M (exactly $8,127,890) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Crysis 3 Remastered older $29.99 7,731 88% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,581) Crytek, Saber Interactive
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap $29.99 4,053 69% 122k $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) Robot Entertainment
Wild Assault $14.99 3,861 68% 116k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) Combat Cat Studio
Arken Age $39.99 669 90% 20k $803k (exactly $802,599) VitruviusVR
Project Warlock II $16.99 1,233 80% 37k $628k (exactly $628,460) Buckshot Software
Heroes of Valor · EA $14.99 1,324 90% 40k $595k (exactly $595,403) Fancy Cat Interactive
IRON REBELLION $24.99 772 84% 23k $579k (exactly $578,768) Black Beach Studio
Neighbors: Suburban Warfare · EA $9.99 1,906 66% 57k $571k (exactly $571,228) Invisible Walls
420BLAZEIT 2: GAME OF THE YEAR -=Dank Dreams and Goated Memes=- [#wow/11 Like and Subscribe] Poggerz Edition $10.99 1,546 98% 46k $510k (exactly $509,716) Normal Wholesome Games
Serious Sam: Shatterverse $19.99 648 50% 19k $389k (exactly $388,606) Behaviour Interactive Inc.

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