Do I ship it?

Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Action RPG?

Action RPG + 2D Platformer

Of 251 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Action RPG 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.. 409 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 136 developers shipped in the last year and 409 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 409 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 251
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $599 → $748 → $589 → $539 → $598 → $300 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 251
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,287)
Top 5% $236k (exactly $236,092)
Developers, 2 yr 251
Released games 700
Announced 409
Effort 7 / 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 up 140% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Action RPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
2D 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
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RPG, 2D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 11,853 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $480, 1 in 4 over $4.2k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 142 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 409 games are announced against 136 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + NavalFair17 devs · median $15k · 11 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  3. + WesternFair13 devs · median $5.5k · 15 announced
  4. + Local MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorLong shot35 devs · median $450 · 33 announced
  6. + WuxiaPoor odds7 devs · median $198k · 28 announced
  7. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  8. + MechsPoor odds21 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  9. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  10. + Dating SimPoor odds31 devs · median $44k · 47 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds23 devs · median $26k · 69 announced
  12. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced

All 211 pairs on the Action RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Blasphemous 2 2023 · $15M Prince of Persia The Lost Crown 2024 · $6.1M Afterimage 2023 · $5.2M STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R 2023 · $4.8M ANNO: Mutationem 2022 · $4.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Blasphemous 2 older $29.99 16,808 91% 504k $15M (exactly $15,122,158) The Game Kitchen
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown older $29.99 6,754 84% 203k $6.1M (exactly $6,076,574) Ubisoft Montpellier
Afterimage older $24.99 6,929 79% 208k $5.2M (exactly $5,194,671) Aurogon Shanghai
STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R older $49.99 3,229 92% 97k $4.8M (exactly $4,842,531) Square Enix, Gemdrops, Inc.
ANNO: Mutationem older $24.99 5,833 80% 175k $4.4M (exactly $4,373,000) ThinkingStars
Anomaly Agent older $11.99 9,463 94% 284k $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) Phew Phew Games
Chinese Online Game older $9.99 6,610 82% 198k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,017) 648工作室
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Castlevania Dominus Collection older $24.99 2,362 94% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,770,791) KONAMI
HAAK older $17.99 3,149 89% 94k $1.7M (exactly $1,699,515) Blingame
再刷一把2：金色传说 $9.99 2,748 44% 82k $824k (exactly $823,576) 滑稽工作室
AWAKEN - Astral Blade $19.99 1,121 82% 34k $672k (exactly $672,264) Dark Pigeon Games
KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- $54.99 403 78% 12k $665k (exactly $664,829) Nihon Falcom
BLADECHIMERA $14.99 1,358 88% 41k $611k (exactly $610,693) Team Ladybug, WSS playground
FLAM EVAW $9.99 1,378 95% 41k $413k (exactly $412,987) 北京万合瑞晟文化传媒有限公司
Dinotica $17.99 746 86% 22k $403k (exactly $402,616) XA Studio
Dragon Is Dead $19.99 661 75% 20k $396k (exactly $396,402) TeamSuneat
Shattered Divinities $9.99 906 94% 27k $272k (exactly $271,528) 星魂游戏
RUBATO $19.99 441 97% 13k $264k (exactly $264,468) dconn

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