Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Ninja

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Ninja 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Ninja

Of 52 developers who shipped a Ninja 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 23 developers shipped in the last year and 66 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 66 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Ninja
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $599 → $3.1k → $1.5k → $300 → $208 → $359 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Ninja: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,598)
Top 5% $611k (exactly $610,693)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 194
Announced 66
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Ninja
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Side Scroller, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 8,376 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 $240, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $610k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

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

Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M The Messenger 2018 · $6.4M Mark of the Ninja: Remastered 2018 · $3.9M SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance 2025 · $3.2M NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound 2025 · $1.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Katana ZERO older $14.99 66,341 97% 2.0M $30M (exactly $29,833,548) Askiisoft
The Messenger older $19.99 10,711 92% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,423,387) Sabotage
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered older $19.99 6,584 95% 198k $3.9M (exactly $3,948,425) Klei Entertainment
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance $29.99 3,564 83% 107k $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) SEGA, Lizardcube
NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound $24.99 2,500 92% 75k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) The Game Kitchen
N++ (NPLUSPLUS) older $14.99 2,825 95% 85k $1.3M (exactly $1,270,402) Metanet Software Inc.
Cyber Shadow older $19.99 1,294 83% 39k $776k (exactly $776,012) Aarne "MekaSkull" Hunziker
BLADECHIMERA $14.99 1,358 88% 41k $611k (exactly $610,693) Team Ladybug, WSS playground
Bing in Wonderland older $8.99 2,020 97% 61k $545k (exactly $544,794) Wanba Studio
Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn older $19.99 595 71% 18k $357k (exactly $356,822) Winning Entertainment Group Inc.
The Spirit of the Samurai $19.99 413 59% 12k $248k (exactly $247,676) Digital Mind Games
Sakura Gozen $16.99 320 96% 9.6k $163k (exactly $163,104) kaniheadcrab
Haneda Girl $14.99 74 94% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) Studio Koba
Ninja Ming $9.99 59 94% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,682) 1 Poss Studio
戦国英雄譚-Samurai Heroes- $9.99 47 89% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) hizaniya games
Atomic Owl $12.99 30 90% 900 $12k (exactly $11,691) Monster Theater
Ninja Brigade feat. Jonah Weingarten $12.99 11 90% 330 $4.3k (exactly $4,287) Impawsible Games

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