Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + 2D Platformer
Should I ship a 2D Platformer Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + 2D Platformer
Of 799 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Action-Adventure 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.. 1,373 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×265 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 1,373 games are announced against 415 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $166k (exactly $166,433) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 799 |
| Released games | 2,610 |
| Announced | 1,373 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure, 2D Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Platformer
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 40,361 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 489 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,373 games are announced against 415 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | INSIDE | older | $24.99 | 69,791 97% | 2.1M | $52M (exactly $52,322,313) | Playdead |
| | Noita | older | $19.99 | 81,149 95% | 2.4M | $49M (exactly $48,665,055) | Nolla Games |
| | SANABI | older | $14.99 | 41,700 97% | 1.3M | $19M (exactly $18,752,490) | WONDER POTION |
| | Neon Abyss | older | $31.49 | 19,709 86% | 591k | $19M (exactly $18,619,092) | Veewo Games |
| | BlazBlue Entropy Effect | older | $19.99 | 30,410 94% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,236,877) | 91Act |
| | Blasphemous 2 | older | $29.99 | 16,808 91% | 504k | $15M (exactly $15,122,158) | The Game Kitchen |
| | Trine 2: Complete Story | older | $19.99 | 15,273 95% | 458k | $9.2M (exactly $9,159,218) | Frozenbyte |
| | The Messenger | older | $19.99 | 10,711 92% | 321k | $6.4M (exactly $6,423,387) | Sabotage |
| | Prince of Persia The Lost Crown | older | $29.99 | 6,754 84% | 203k | $6.1M (exactly $6,076,574) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
| | Trine Enchanted Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,843 95% | 385k | $5.8M (exactly $5,775,497) | Frozenbyte |
| | REPLACED | $19.99 | 9,130 84% | 274k | $5.5M (exactly $5,475,261) | Sad Cat Studios | |
| | Mina the Hollower | $19.99 | 7,562 88% | 227k | $4.5M (exactly $4,534,931) | Yacht Club Games | |
| | MIO: Memories in Orbit | $19.99 | 4,300 83% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,578,710) | Douze Dixièmes | |
| | The Plucky Squire | $29.99 | 2,795 84% | 84k | $2.5M (exactly $2,514,662) | All Possible Futures | |
| | ANTONBLAST | $19.99 | 3,943 95% | 118k | $2.4M (exactly $2,364,617) | Summitsphere | |
| | Threefold Recital | $14.99 | 5,117 98% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,115) | Everscape Games | |
| | PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY | $29.99 | 2,091 83% | 63k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) | SAS CO.,LTD. | |
| | Aeruta | $19.99 | 2,391 94% | 72k | $1.4M (exactly $1,433,883) | FromDawn Games | |
| | Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo | $19.99 | 1,993 97% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,195,202) | Pocket Trap | |
| | Bye Sweet Carole | $24.99 | 1,039 72% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Little Sewing Machine |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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