Shoot 'Em Up + Top-Down Shooter: a typical launch earns $424 in its first year

That is the median of 131 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 4 of 258 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 9.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 25% on the year before: 176 against 141.

One game dominates the figure

Price: $424
Price vs a year earlier: −19.1%
Releases, 12 months: 176
Upcoming games: 344
Games on the store: 1,336

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Shoot 'Em Up + Top-Down Shooter on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.04%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.06%	12 ranked of 345 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,725 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. One game dominates the figure	0.56xhits against expected	0.39x to 0.95x	258 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#5,394 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period.
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window.

Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.

Launch success

launches 6 to 30 months old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 4
Expected: 9.4

Launches: 258
Hit rate: 1.6%0.4% to 4.2%
Expected rate: 3.6%
Against expected: 0.56x0.39x to 0.95x

Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.

Revenue spread

258 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $0
Median: $384
Top tenth: $9,175

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 176
Prior 12 months: 141

Change: +25%

Parent tags

Shoot 'Em UpGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Top-Down ShooterGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.

Related niches

pairs with Shoot 'Em Up

Shoot 'Em Up + Female Protagonist$1,41531 launches priced, 19 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Shoot 'Em Up$1,07266 launches priced, 98 releases in 12 months
Shoot 'Em Up + Twin Stick Shooter$1,01145 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Shoot 'Em Up + Action Roguelike$88794 launches priced, 143 releases in 12 months
Shoot 'Em Up + Score Attack$67730 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Shoot 'Em Up + Bullet Hell$646192 launches priced, 289 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Shoot 'Em Up

More with Top-Down Shooter

pairs with Top-Down Shooter

Roguelite + Top-Down Shooter$1,010116 launches priced, 189 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Twin Stick Shooter$90973 launches priced, 113 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Bullet Hell$809179 launches priced, 260 releases in 12 months
Action RPG + Top-Down Shooter$72833 launches priced, 39 releases in 12 months
Top-Down Shooter + Action Roguelike$687150 launches priced, 242 releases in 12 months
Roguelike + Top-Down Shooter$443111 launches priced, 155 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Top-Down Shooter

Verdicts

in development

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