Do I ship it?

Games › Arcade › Arcade + Shoot 'Em Up

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Shoot 'Em Up Arcade game?

Arcade + Shoot 'Em Up

Of 749 developers who shipped a Shoot 'Em Up Arcade game 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.. 783 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 783 games are announced against 421 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 783 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arcade + Shoot 'Em Up
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 749
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $1.9k → $719 → $748 → $539 → $598 → $418 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arcade + Shoot 'Em Up: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 749
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,998)
Top 5% $60k (exactly $60,280)
Developers, 2 yr 749
Released games 2,915
Announced 783
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 10% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Shoot 'Em Up
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
Arcade, Shoot 'Em Up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Bullet Hell
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 35,344 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $60k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 392 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 783 games are announced against 421 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair59 devs · median $4.3k · 88 announced
  2. + TrainsFair20 devs · median $3.1k · 16 announced
  3. + Visual NovelFair101 devs · median $2.6k · 84 announced
  4. + MiningFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  5. + FaithFair16 devs · median $2.2k · 15 announced
  6. + Turn-BasedFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  7. + EconomyFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair72 devs · median $2.1k · 61 announced
  9. + DeckbuildingFair170 devs · median $1.9k · 234 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair68 devs · median $1.9k · 75 announced
  11. + LootFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced
  12. + VampiresFair34 devs · median $1.9k · 35 announced

All 270 pairs on the Arcade page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M Nova Drift 2024 · $7.0M Journey To The Savage Planet 2021 · $5.1M HARD BULLET 2020 · EA · $3.5M Raw Data 2017 · $2.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
Nova Drift older $17.99 12,975 95% 389k $7.0M (exactly $7,002,607) Chimeric
Journey To The Savage Planet older $29.99 5,674 87% 170k $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) Typhoon
HARD BULLET · EA older $19.99 5,860 83% 176k $3.5M (exactly $3,514,242) GexagonVR
Raw Data older $39.99 2,036 81% 61k $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) Survios
HUNTDOWN older $19.99 4,059 94% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) Easy Trigger Games
Touhou Tenkuushou ~ Hidden Star in Four Seasons. older $14.99 4,312 98% 129k $1.9M (exactly $1,939,106) 上海アリス幻樂団
Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 older $12.99 4,742 94% 142k $1.8M (exactly $1,847,957) Rogueside, Claeysbrothers
Out There Somewhere older $9.99 6,160 92% 185k $1.8M (exactly $1,846,152) MiniBoss
METAL SLUG 3 older $7.99 6,976 90% 209k $1.7M (exactly $1,672,147) SNK CORPORATION, Dotemu
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III $13.99 1,242 90% 37k $521k (exactly $521,267) 东方幕华祭制作组
Reality Break $24.99 683 80% 20k $512k (exactly $512,045) Element Games, LLC
XENOTILT: HOSTILE PINBALL ACTION $19.99 770 96% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) WIZNWAR, FLARB LLC
Guns of Fury $14.99 950 88% 29k $427k (exactly $427,215) Gelato Games Ltd
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
Sektori $14.99 897 96% 27k $403k (exactly $403,381) Kimmo Lahtinen
ButtKnight $9.99 1,299 91% 39k $389k (exactly $389,310) Goblin Stew, Critical Bliss

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