Do I ship it?

Games2D Platformer2D Platformer + Artificial Intelligence

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an AI 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Artificial Intelligence

Of 78 developers who shipped an AI 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.. 83 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 49 developers shipped in the last year and 83 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 83 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Artificial Intelligence
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 78
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $0 → $358 → $1.1k → $267 → $90 → $150 (still earning) → $386 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Artificial Intelligence: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 78
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $119 (exactly $119)
Top 25% $899 (exactly $899)
Top 5% $328k (exactly $327,910)
Developers, 2 yr 78
Released games 244
Announced 83
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $2.99

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 125% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Artificial Intelligence
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
2D Platformer; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Simulation, Adventure
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 14,263 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 $120, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $320k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

2D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  2. + VampiresFair47 devs · median $1.9k · 50 announced
  3. + MechsFair33 devs · median $1.8k · 44 announced
  4. + PinballFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 9 announced
  5. + WesternFair10 devs · median $1.3k · 13 announced
  6. + CRPGFair62 devs · median $1.2k · 76 announced
  7. + Psychological HorrorFair178 devs · median $1.0k · 185 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  9. + MiningFair38 devs · median $748 · 45 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  11. + Party-Based RPGFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  12. + Tactical RPGFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced

All 226 pairs on the 2D Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

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
PLATiNA :: LAB $19.99 1,780 50% 53k $1.1M (exactly $1,067,466) HIGH-END Games
Will You Snail? older $10.99 2,509 97% 75k $827k (exactly $827,217) Jonas Tyroller
Kugayama Shiori's Death Diary $24.99 987 95% 30k $740k (exactly $739,954) Laplacian
BIOMORPH older $19.99 642 91% 19k $385k (exactly $385,007) Lucid Dreams Studio
Space Simulation Toolkit · EA older $24.99 500 80% 15k $375k (exactly $374,850) Pavel Kudinov
BM General Hospital $7.99 1,368 86% 41k $328k (exactly $327,910) zzzgame
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider older $16.99 489 85% 15k $249k (exactly $249,243) JoyMasher
Inverted Angel older $6.99 563 90% 17k $118k (exactly $118,061) SCIKA
Tap Dungeon $4.99 334 81% 10k $50k (exactly $50,000) Xiao5 Studios
BM Love Cafe $7.99 204 77% 6.1k $49k (exactly $48,899) zzzgame
ENCOUNTER BARⅡ $2.99 294 69% 8.8k $26k (exactly $26,372) 2R LTD
Sex Beats $9.99 62 77% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) Naku Kinoko
Paper2Galgame · EA $5.99 75 88% 2.3k $13k (exactly $13,478) TamikiP
Multiplier Goblin $14.99 29 65% 870 $13k (exactly $13,041) Ketchup AjiNo Mayonnaise

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