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Should I ship a PvP 2D Platformer?
PvP + 2D Platformer
Of 195 developers who shipped a PvP 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.. 325 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build. 119 developers shipped in the last year and 325 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) |
| Top 5% | $37k (exactly $37,409) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 195 |
| Released games | 641 |
| Announced | 325 |
| Effort | 8 / 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 15% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 27%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, 2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.00 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.00 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 12,099 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 104 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 325 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R | older | $49.99 | 14,344 91% | 430k | $22M (exactly $21,511,697) | CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. |
| | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
| | Spelunky 2 | older | $19.99 | 19,736 93% | 592k | $12M (exactly $11,835,679) | Mossmouth, BlitWorks |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | Rivals of Aether II | $29.99 | 6,980 78% | 209k | $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) | Aether Studios | |
| | Super Bunny Man | older | $14.99 | 10,143 85% | 304k | $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) | Catobyte |
| | Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef | older | $19.99 | 2,586 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) | Rogueside |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) | Fair Play Labs |
| | Salt and Sacrifice | older | $19.99 | 1,738 62% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,279) | Devoured Studios, Ska Studios |
| | JUMP KING QUEST | $14.99 | 1,202 88% | 36k | $541k (exactly $540,539) | Nexile | |
| | THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII GLOBAL MATCH | $19.99 | 562 55% | 17k | $337k (exactly $337,031) | SAFARI GAMES | |
| | Level Devil | $6.99 | 1,304 91% | 39k | $273k (exactly $273,449) | Unept | |
| | Smack Talk | $5.99 | 867 96% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | Monchii Studio | |
| | SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed | $9.99 | 447 55% | 13k | $134k (exactly $133,966) | Fair Play Labs | |
| | Falling with Ice Phoenix! | $9.99 | 300 92% | 9.0k | $90k (exactly $89,910) | F Project | |
| | IGS Classic Arcade Collection | $29.99 | 94 60% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | IGS(台灣鈊象電子) | |
| | Knock'Em Out | $7.99 | 239 85% | 7.2k | $57k (exactly $57,288) | BBear Studio | |
| | Royalty Free-For-All | $11.99 | 104 86% | 3.1k | $37k (exactly $37,409) | AAAA Games, LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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