Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Psychological Horror

Of 178 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 185 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 75% on the market; 185 games are announced against 99 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 75% on the market, 185 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 178
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $624 → $600 → $2.7k → $628 → $807 → $1.6k → $980 (still earning) → $628 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 178
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,988)
Top 5% $65k (exactly $65,335)
Developers, 2 yr 178
Released games 486
Announced 185
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 75% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Platformer, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 18,421 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $65k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 96 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 185 games are announced against 99 developers who shipped in the last year.

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. + Arena ShooterFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  8. + MiningFair38 devs · median $748 · 45 announced
  9. + RoguelikeFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  10. + Party-Based RPGFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  11. + Tactical RPGFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced
  12. + TanksFair11 devs · median $599 · 11 announced

All 226 pairs on the 2D Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS 2024 · $18M Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 魔女的夜宴 2023 · $10M INMOST 2020 · $2.7M Hylics 2 2020 · $1.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
Night in the Woods older $19.99 17,760 94% 533k $11M (exactly $10,650,672) Infinite Fall
魔女的夜宴 older $34.99 9,664 98% 290k $10M (exactly $10,144,301) YUZUSOFT
INMOST older $14.99 5,928 90% 178k $2.7M (exactly $2,665,822) Hidden Layer Games
Hylics 2 older $14.99 3,158 96% 95k $1.4M (exactly $1,420,153) Mason Lindroth
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I older $9.99 2,623 43% 79k $786k (exactly $786,113) SEGA
Bye Sweet Carole $24.99 1,039 72% 31k $779k (exactly $778,938) Little Sewing Machine
JUMP KING QUEST $14.99 1,202 88% 36k $541k (exactly $540,539) Nexile
I wanna be the Creator older $5.99 2,860 94% 86k $514k (exactly $513,942) Aikesi
METAL SLUG ATTACK RELOADED older $9.99 1,639 69% 49k $491k (exactly $491,208) SNK CORPORATION
Winion Virus $10.99 980 94% 29k $323k (exactly $323,106) Dawntown Studio
Ambidextro $7.99 1,334 98% 40k $320k (exactly $319,760) Majorariatto
The Aquarium does not dance Special Edition $19.99 277 97% 8.3k $166k (exactly $166,117) 橙々, Gotcha Gotcha Games
LOVE ETERNAL $9.99 453 96% 14k $136k (exactly $135,764) brlka
TOUQI $4.99 462 89% 14k $69k (exactly $69,161) 橙光游戏
Paper Bride 7 Lethal Bond $9.99 218 92% 6.5k $65k (exactly $65,335) HeartBeat Plus
ZAKO NO AHIRU $6.99 278 87% 8.3k $58k (exactly $58,297) FUファイターズ

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