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Should I ship an Alternate-History 2D Platformer?
2D Platformer + Alternate History
Of 30 developers who shipped an Alternate-History 2D Platformer 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.. 101 more are announced, ×6.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×196 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 101 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $657 (exactly $657) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,194) |
| Top 5% | $123k (exactly $123,308) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 103 |
| Announced | 101 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 250% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2.5D, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 10,305 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 101 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + VampiresFair
- + MechsFair
- + PinballFair
- + WesternFair
- + CRPGFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + MiningFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
Comparable games
REPLACED 2026 · $5.5M 
Slave Zero X 2024 · $328k 
Repella Fella 2023 · $171k 
Arisen Force: HeroTest 2024 · $123k 
Imprisoned Queen 2021 · $78k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | REPLACED | $19.99 | 9,130 84% | 274k | $5.5M (exactly $5,475,261) | Sad Cat Studios | |
| | Slave Zero X | older | $24.99 | 438 75% | 13k | $328k (exactly $328,369) | Poppy Works |
| | Repella Fella | older | $17.99 | 316 97% | 9.5k | $171k (exactly $170,545) | Misadventurous |
| | Arisen Force: HeroTest | $10.99 | 374 82% | 11k | $123k (exactly $123,308) | Lemport | |
| | Imprisoned Queen | older | $7.99 | 324 67% | 9.7k | $78k (exactly $77,663) | Kanoe, BananaKing |
 | Late Ming: Reborn in Flames | · EA | $4.00 | 519 55% | 16k | $62k (exactly $62,280) | AladdinBatu |
 | Little Orpheus | older | $4.99 | 393 67% | 12k | $59k (exactly $58,832) | The Chinese Room |
 | Treasures of the Aegean | older | $19.99 | 82 86% | 2.5k | $49k (exactly $49,175) | Undercoders |
 | Pixel Ripped 1978: An Atari Adventure | older | $24.99 | 52 76% | 1.6k | $39k (exactly $38,984) | ARVORE |
 | Re;quartz零度 | older | $34.99 | 35 82% | 1.1k | $37k (exactly $36,740) | B-cluster |
 | Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege | $9.99 | 109 94% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | Lillymo Games | |
 | Three Kingdoms: Shu-Han Chronicles | $12.99 | 20 45% | 600 | $7.8k (exactly $7,794) | QianFan Game | |
 | DEAD DAYLIGHT | $2.99 | 71 88% | 2.1k | $6.4k (exactly $6,369) | KARMIU | |
 | 幻想 · 遇见秦始皇 Fantasy Encountering Emperor Qin Shi Huang | $6.99 | 25 84% | 750 | $5.2k (exactly $5,242) | 红豆游戏 | |
 | 新世勇者传 Newera Heroes' Chronicle | $6.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $4.2k (exactly $4,194) | Zzzzz工作室 | |
 | Agent Fall | $4.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Pufferfish Digital | |
 | 三国仁义传 The Righteousness: SanGuo | $5.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) | 硕狗累累工作室(HarvestDog) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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