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Should I ship a Level Editor 2D Platformer?
Level Editor + 2D Platformer
Of 79 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 128 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 38 developers shipped in the last year and 128 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 5% | $10k (exactly $10,195) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 79 |
| Released games | 270 |
| Announced | 128 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Level Editor, 2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Precision Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,212 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 128 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Level Editor with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + AutomationLong shot
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Ultimate Chicken Horse 2016 · $18M 
Door Kickers: Action Squad 2018 · $3.7M 
30XX 2023 · $1.5M 
N++ (NPLUSPLUS) 2016 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
| | Door Kickers: Action Squad | older | $13.99 | 8,778 95% | 263k | $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) | PixelShard, KillHouse Games |
| | 30XX | older | $19.99 | 2,514 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) | Batterystaple Games |
| | N++ (NPLUSPLUS) | older | $14.99 | 2,825 95% | 85k | $1.3M (exactly $1,270,402) | Metanet Software Inc. |
 | I wanna be the Creator | older | $5.99 | 2,860 94% | 86k | $514k (exactly $513,942) | Aikesi |
 | Dustforce DX | older | $9.99 | 1,214 93% | 36k | $364k (exactly $363,836) | Hitbox Team |
 | Contraption Maker | older | $12.99 | 922 92% | 28k | $359k (exactly $359,303) | Kevin Ryan |
 | Vibrant Venture | · EA older | $14.99 | 575 98% | 17k | $259k (exactly $258,578) | Semag Games |
 | Bloody Trapland 2: Curiosity | older | $9.99 | 824 83% | 25k | $247k (exactly $246,953) | 2Play, Prasius |
 | Shotgun Cop Man | $9.99 | 633 96% | 19k | $190k (exactly $189,710) | DeadToast Entertainment | |
 | Chaos Faction Legacy Collection | $4.99 | 234 93% | 7.0k | $35k (exactly $35,030) | George "EON" Eade | |
 | Tick Hop | $2.99 | 196 79% | 5.9k | $18k (exactly $17,581) | 小磊又饿又困 | |
 | Starlair | $19.99 | 17 58% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Shooty Bazooky | |
 | 10 seconds dash! | $9.99 | 31 96% | 930 | $9.3k (exactly $9,291) | メシードソフトウェア | |
 | POGOPPL | $8.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $5.9k (exactly $5,933) | September Games | |
 | Micro Mages Maker | $15.49 | 12 91% | 360 | $5.6k (exactly $5,576) | Morphcat Games, Novasplore Games | |
 | Chickens Don't Fly | $9.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | Bachware Games | |
 | 武道残编 | $3.99 | 37 59% | 1.1k | $4.4k (exactly $4,429) | 武道 | |
 | Super Marxist Twins | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Type 3 Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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