Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Perma Death
Should I ship a Perma Death 2D Platformer?
2D Platformer + Perma Death
Of 70 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 79 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $45k, ×96 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 79 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) |
| Top 5% | $45k (exactly $45,420) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 255 |
| Announced | 79 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 80% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- 2D Platformer, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,892 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 79 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Platformer with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + VampiresFair
- + MechsFair
- + PinballFair
- + WesternFair
- + CRPGFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + MiningFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
Comparable games
Noita 2020 · $49M 
Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M 
30XX 2023 · $1.5M 
ScourgeBringer 2020 · $1.3M 
Fury Unleashed 2020 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Noita | older | $19.99 | 81,149 95% | 2.4M | $49M (exactly $48,665,055) | Nolla Games |
| | Spelunky 2 | older | $19.99 | 19,736 93% | 592k | $12M (exactly $11,835,679) | Mossmouth, BlitWorks |
| | 30XX | older | $19.99 | 2,514 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) | Batterystaple Games |
| | ScourgeBringer | older | $16.99 | 2,642 87% | 79k | $1.3M (exactly $1,346,627) | Flying Oak Games, E-Studio |
| | Fury Unleashed | older | $19.99 | 2,010 86% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,205,397) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | Caveblazers | older | $9.99 | 3,416 86% | 102k | $1.0M (exactly $1,023,775) | Deadpan Games |
 | Cluckmech Oasis | older | $9.99 | 3,077 87% | 92k | $922k (exactly $922,177) | BlackLight |
 | Bing in Wonderland | older | $8.99 | 2,020 97% | 61k | $545k (exactly $544,794) | Wanba Studio |
 | Lakeview Cabin Collection | older | $9.99 | 1,599 94% | 48k | $479k (exactly $479,220) | Roope Tamminen |
 | BZZZT | older | $11.99 | 952 93% | 29k | $342k (exactly $342,434) | KO.DLL |
 | Dunjungle | $14.99 | 692 96% | 21k | $311k (exactly $311,192) | Bruno Bombardi | |
 | Rogue Blight | $12.99 | 318 91% | 9.5k | $124k (exactly $123,925) | CodeRadGames | |
 | Cryptical Path | $14.99 | 130 86% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | Old Skull Games | |
 | Aura of Worlds | $14.99 | 101 96% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $45,420) | Cognitive Forge | |
 | Corebreaker | · EA | $7.99 | 161 92% | 4.8k | $39k (exactly $38,592) | aQuadiun |
 | An Amazing Wizard | · EA | $11.99 | 98 83% | 2.9k | $35k (exactly $35,251) | Tiny Goblins |
 | Horny Haunts | $4.99 | 118 56% | 3.5k | $18k (exactly $17,665) | Naelstrof, Raliv, BigCozyOrca, Eugene | |
 | outpost4 | $3.99 | 94 72% | 2.8k | $11k (exactly $11,252) | BananaDogGames | |
 | PixelBoss: Shattered Depths | · EA | $2.99 | 116 75% | 3.5k | $10k (exactly $10,405) | Quacky Games |
 | OREBLAZE | $4.99 | 64 92% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | Ludiminal Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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