Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Fighter › 2D Fighter + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Platformer 2D Fighter?

2D Fighter + Platformer

Of 116 developers who shipped a Platformer 2D Fighter 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.. 178 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 58 developers shipped in the last year and 178 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 178 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Fighter + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 116
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $298 → $119 → $1.9k → $898 → $359 → $390 → $419 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Fighter + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 116
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $416 (exactly $416)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,696)
Top 5% $53k (exactly $52,615)
Developers, 2 yr 116
Released games 407
Announced 178
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.99

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 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.

2D Fighter
effort 5 / 10 · low · frame-precise animation and rollback netcode
Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
2D Fighter, Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 16,075 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $420, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $52k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 70 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 178 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

2D Fighter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomanceStrong odds8 devs · median $4.0k · 6 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair11 devs · median $4.0k · 12 announced
  3. + Card BattlerFair10 devs · median $1.0k · 11 announced
  4. + DeckbuildingFair17 devs · median $959 · 12 announced
  5. + Auto BattlerFair16 devs · median $719 · 19 announced
  6. + IdlerFair9 devs · median $599 · 18 announced
  7. + RhythmFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  8. + SimulationFair51 devs · median $598 · 55 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $538 · 13 announced
  10. + ManagementFair10 devs · median $449 · 14 announced
  11. + SuperheroLong shot11 devs · median $959 · 12 announced
  12. + Resource ManagementLong shot13 devs · median $390 · 14 announced

All 129 pairs on the 2D Fighter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rivals of Aether 2017 · $30M BlazBlue Entropy Effect 2024 · $18M ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M Rivals of Aether II 2024 · $6.3M Anomaly Agent 2024 · $3.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rivals of Aether older $29.99 33,284 96% 999k $30M (exactly $29,945,615) Aether Studios
BlazBlue Entropy Effect older $19.99 30,410 94% 912k $18M (exactly $18,236,877) 91Act
ROUNDS older $5.99 35,738 95% 1.1M $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) Landfall
Rivals of Aether II $29.99 6,980 78% 209k $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) Aether Studios
Anomaly Agent older $11.99 9,463 94% 284k $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) Phew Phew Games
Stick It to the Stickman · EA $11.99 7,918 96% 238k $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) Free Lives
Nidhogg older $9.99 5,717 90% 172k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) Messhof
Slap City older $19.99 2,409 95% 72k $1.4M (exactly $1,444,677) Ludosity
TowerFall Ascension older $14.99 2,942 95% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,323,017) Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.)
Spiritfall older $19.99 1,844 92% 55k $1.1M (exactly $1,105,847) Gentle Giant
Poetry of Blood: Eclipse · EA $14.99 406 91% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) ZeroGameStudio
Decline's Drops $14.99 170 96% 5.1k $76k (exactly $76,449) Le Moulin aux Bulles
IGNOBLE $6.99 331 82% 9.9k $69k (exactly $69,411) Retromagine
PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer $14.99 117 74% 3.5k $53k (exactly $52,615) ChillyRoom
Morkull Ragast's Rage $17.99 39 69% 1.2k $21k (exactly $21,048) Disaster Games
Rage of the Dragons NEO $19.99 30 90% 900 $18k (exactly $17,991) QUByte Interactive
Luctus $9.99 56 94% 1.7k $17k (exactly $16,783) Mriya Game Studio
Astropods: Starside Glaze $12.50 28 100% 840 $11k (exactly $10,500) CheesiMoon, Breadbinbran

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