Third-person shooter (TPS or 3PS) is a genre of 3D computer and video games where the camera view is outside of, and thought of as usually being behind, the main player character. The name became commonplace following the popularisation of the first-person shooter (or FPS), in order to allow the two types of "shooter" to be differentiated from each other.

Because so many shooters employ third-person cameras but are controlled in a manner similar to a first-person shooter, much confusion exists over what qualifies as a third-person shooter and what doesn't. Games such as Max Payne fit into the former category, embodying gameplay that mostly consists of shooting, and using a third-person camera exclusively. A number of shooters, including Serious Sam and The Suffering, bridge the gap between first-person shooters and this kind of game by offering either first- or third-person cameras.


Owing to the general nature of the term, many games are placed outside of the third-person shooter genre because their style is covered by a more specific genre label. The Resident Evil series, though it incorporated both third-person gameplay and shooting, was not considered a third-person shooter until Resident Evil 4; because of the emphasis on adventure and survival, this was called survival horror. In contrast, the ''GTA'' series from GTA III and up has been labelled by some as a third-person shooter, but combines driving and RPG elements along with elements from the other description. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs is another popular third-person shooter franchise.
Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront II are popular FPS/TPS.

There are advantages and disavantages of TPS games. A third-person perspective gives the player more awareness of their surroundings, as in the Splinter Cell series. However, this leaves the camera "unlinked" from movement as in an FPS: poor camera control can leave the player viewing the wrong area, having their line-of-sight covered by an enemy behind them, with the illogical ability to see through walls, or worse. Many solutions to these problems have been both proposed and implemented, but camera control continues to hinder the genre.