Games › Exploration › Exploration + 2D Platformer
Should I ship an Exploration 2D Platformer?
Exploration + 2D Platformer
Of 565 developers who shipped an Exploration 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.. 1,083 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×403 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 1,083 games are announced against 307 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) |
| Top 5% | $191k (exactly $191,304) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 565 |
| Released games | 1,712 |
| Announced | 1,083 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 15% more developers than 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.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, 2D Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Platformer
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 28,150 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 319 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,083 games are announced against 307 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Celeste 2018 · $79M 
Rain World 2017 · $35M 
觅长生 2023 · $12M 
Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown 2024 · $6.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Celeste | older | $19.99 | 132,072 97% | 4.0M | $79M (exactly $79,203,578) | Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.) |
| | Rain World | older | $24.99 | 46,871 94% | 1.4M | $35M (exactly $35,139,189) | Videocult |
| | 觅长生 | older | $14.99 | 27,072 93% | 812k | $12M (exactly $12,174,278) | Chalcedony Network |
| | Night in the Woods | older | $19.99 | 17,760 94% | 533k | $11M (exactly $10,650,672) | Infinite Fall |
| | 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 |
 | Sonic Origins | older | $29.99 | 5,322 77% | 160k | $4.8M (exactly $4,788,203) | Sonic Team |
 | Thank Goodness You're Here! | older | $19.99 | 7,742 96% | 232k | $4.6M (exactly $4,642,877) | Coal Supper |
 | ANNO: Mutationem | older | $24.99 | 5,833 80% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,373,000) | ThinkingStars |
 | Webbed | older | $9.99 | 13,820 97% | 415k | $4.1M (exactly $4,141,854) | Sbug Games |
 | MIO: Memories in Orbit | $19.99 | 4,300 83% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,578,710) | Douze Dixièmes | |
 | ANTONBLAST | $19.99 | 3,943 95% | 118k | $2.4M (exactly $2,364,617) | Summitsphere | |
 | Öoo | $9.99 | 6,575 99% | 197k | $2.0M (exactly $1,970,528) | NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuy… (NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi) | |
 | Train45 | $10.99 | 3,823 97% | 115k | $1.3M (exactly $1,260,443) | Elniko | |
 | Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo | $19.99 | 1,993 97% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,195,202) | Pocket Trap | |
 | 灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 | $9.99 | 3,682 90% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) | 莓夜工作室 | |
 | The Censor DX Edition | $17.99 | 1,467 82% | 44k | $792k (exactly $791,740) | Tiramisu, Big S Studio | |
 | 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 | |
 | Darwin's Paradox! | $24.99 | 843 87% | 25k | $632k (exactly $631,997) | ZDT Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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