Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + 2D Platformer

Of 55 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Party-Based RPG 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.. 42 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $89. Revenue is up 500% on the market; 42 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 500% on the market, 42 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 55
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $72k → $6.5k → $748 → $1.3k → $300 → $4.4k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 55
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,208)
Top 5% $166k (exactly $166,433)
Developers, 2 yr 55
Released games 162
Announced 42
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 500% on the market, supply 40% more 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.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Party-Based RPG, 2D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, JRPG, Strategy RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 4,490 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $600, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  4. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  5. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $49k · 25 announced
  6. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  7. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  8. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  11. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds46 devs · median $13k · 87 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Chinese Online Game 2024 · $2.0M Hylics 2 2020 · $1.4M Psychic Kung Fu Master 2026 · $1.0M 英雄群侠传II 2019 · $756k Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky 2021 · $730k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Chinese Online Game older $9.99 6,610 82% 198k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,017) 648工作室
Hylics 2 older $14.99 3,158 96% 95k $1.4M (exactly $1,420,153) Mason Lindroth
Psychic Kung Fu Master $19.99 1,723 60% 52k $1.0M (exactly $1,033,283) 金十四工作室
英雄群侠传II older $11.99 2,103 88% 63k $756k (exactly $756,449) 熊窝dodox
Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky older $9.99 2,437 93% 73k $730k (exactly $730,369) DOMO Studio, SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
Sword and Fairy older $4.99 3,947 97% 118k $591k (exactly $590,866) SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains older $13.99 1,161 84% 35k $487k (exactly $487,272) DOMO Studio, SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
FLAM EVAW $9.99 1,378 95% 41k $413k (exactly $412,987) 北京万合瑞晟文化传媒有限公司
仙绣剑缘录 older $11.99 814 85% 24k $293k (exactly $292,796) 熊窝dodox
封神榜2022 older $9.99 927 91% 28k $278k (exactly $277,822) FC Maker
Fallen Tear: The Ascension · EA $24.99 222 81% 6.7k $166k (exactly $166,433) Winter Crew Studios
吞食天地之乱舞三国 $13.99 271 92% 8.1k $114k (exactly $113,739) FC Maker
YGGDRA REFRAIN $9.99 311 79% 9.3k $93k (exactly $93,207) BD
巴哈姆特1-REMAKE(BAHAMUT1-REMAKE) $9.99 170 95% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) 王韋
BM Love Cafe $7.99 204 77% 6.1k $49k (exactly $48,899) zzzgame
Isekai Adventurer Guild · EA $13.99 106 73% 3.2k $44k (exactly $44,488) Beard Bear
Monochrome Echoes - white - $24.99 54 87% 1.6k $40k (exactly $40,484) Thousand Games
WiZmans World Re;Try $24.99 51 74% 1.5k $38k (exactly $38,235) CITY CONNECTION

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