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Should I ship a PvE 2D Platformer?
PvE + 2D Platformer
Of 313 developers who shipped a PvE 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.. 402 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $270 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 163 developers shipped in the last year and 402 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $240 (exactly $240) |
| Top 25% | $1.6k (exactly $1,618) |
| Top 5% | $40k (exactly $39,560) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 313 |
| Released games | 775 |
| Announced | 402 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 25% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvE
- effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, 2D Platformer; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,756 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 182 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 402 games are announced against 163 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M 
STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R 2023 · $4.8M 
We Need To Go Deeper 2019 · $2.2M 
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M 
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 2023 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
| | STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R | older | $49.99 | 3,229 92% | 97k | $4.8M (exactly $4,842,531) | Square Enix, Gemdrops, Inc. |
| | We Need To Go Deeper | older | $15.99 | 4,652 86% | 140k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) | Deli Interactive LLC |
| | PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY | $29.99 | 2,091 83% | 63k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) | SAS CO.,LTD. | |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) | Fair Play Labs |
 | Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection | older | $29.99 | 1,306 74% | 39k | $1.2M (exactly $1,175,008) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Salt and Sacrifice | older | $19.99 | 1,738 62% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,279) | Devoured Studios, Ska Studios |
 | Contra: Operation Galuga | older | $39.99 | 810 87% | 24k | $972k (exactly $971,757) | WayForward |
 | JUMP KING QUEST | $14.99 | 1,202 88% | 36k | $541k (exactly $540,539) | Nexile | |
 | Portal Dungeon | older | $14.99 | 995 88% | 30k | $447k (exactly $447,452) | Dusk Dog Studio |
 | Sea Fantasy | $14.99 | 585 86% | 18k | $263k (exactly $263,074) | METASLA | |
 | HYKE:Northern Light(s) | $27.99 | 242 73% | 7.3k | $203k (exactly $203,207) | Akatsuki Games Inc., Blast Edge Games I… (Akatsuki Games Inc., Blast Edge Games Inc.) | |
 | Double Dragon Revive | $34.99 | 157 63% | 4.7k | $165k (exactly $164,803) | YUKE’S | |
 | INAYAH - Life after Gods | $15.99 | 230 71% | 6.9k | $110k (exactly $110,331) | Exogenesis Studios | |
 | WASD : The Adventure of Tori | $3.99 | 730 83% | 22k | $87k (exactly $87,381) | EVNA Games | |
 | IGS Classic Arcade Collection | $29.99 | 94 60% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | IGS(台灣鈊象電子) | |
 | Decline's Drops | $14.99 | 170 96% | 5.1k | $76k (exactly $76,449) | Le Moulin aux Bulles | |
 | Oh So Hero! | $9.99 | 255 94% | 7.7k | $76k (exactly $76,424) | Full Frontal Frog |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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