Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Niches / Space / Shoot 'Em Up
Space + Shoot 'Em Up: a typical launch earns $131 in its first year
That is the median of 42 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 1 of 72 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 3.3 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 14% on the year before: 50 against 44.
- Price
- $131 median of 42 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −35.2% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 50 44 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 98 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 464 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 5 or more wishlist-ranked upcoming games. | |||
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 0.63xhits against expected | 0.51x to 1.16x | 72 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #5,088 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 oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 72
- Hit rate
- 1.4%0.0% to 7.1%
- Expected rate
- 4.6%
- Against expected
- 0.63x0.51x to 1.16x
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
72 launchesEstimated 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
- $162
- Top tenth
- $5,267
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +14%
Parent tags
- SpaceNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.
- Shoot 'Em UpGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe 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.
- Earthion (opens the Steam store)2025 · 484 reviews, 95% positiveest. $196k
- Touhou Lensed Night Sky, Kaseigai (opens the Steam store)2024 · 145 reviews, 95% positiveest. $65k
- KILL KILL KILL KILL (opens the Steam store)2024 · 94 reviews, 89% positiveest. $57k
- Truxton Extreme (opens the Steam store)2026 · 95 reviews, 95% positiveest. $48k
- Revolgear Zero (opens the Steam store)2026 · 125 reviews, 98% positiveest. $38k
- Space Gray X (opens the Steam store)2024 · 40 reviews, 80% positiveest. $10k to $100k
- FZ: Formation Z (opens the Steam store)2026 · 16 reviews, 87% positiveest. $1k to $10k
- Around The Core (opens the Steam store)2026 · 102 reviews, 86% positiveest. $8.2k
More with Space
pairs with Space- Space + Exploration$2,02365 launches priced, 110 releases in 12 months
- Space + PvE$80933 launches priced, 38 releases in 12 months
- Strategy + Space$70876 launches priced, 140 releases in 12 months
- Simulation + Space$55452 launches priced, 154 releases in 12 months
- Space + Roguelite$45431 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
- Space + Space Sim$40446 launches priced, 106 releases in 12 months
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
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.