Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Roguelike

Of 264 developers who shipped a Roguelike 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.. 320 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 320 games are announced against 169 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 320 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 264
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $629 → $386 → $1.2k → $600 → $1.0k → $599 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 264
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.1k (exactly $4,075)
Top 5% $63k (exactly $63,145)
Developers, 2 yr 264
Released games 604
Announced 320
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $5.00

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 20% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Roguelike
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, Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, RPG
Price point
$5.00 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 26,119 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.0k, 1 in 20 over $63k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 112 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 320 games are announced against 169 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

2D Platformer with a different second tag, 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. + Psychological HorrorFair178 devs · median $1.0k · 185 announced
  8. + Arena ShooterFair45 devs · median $809 · 43 announced
  9. + MiningFair38 devs · median $748 · 45 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

Noita 2020 · $49M Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M Rogue Legacy 2 2022 · $11M Have a Nice Death 2023 · $7.3M
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
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Rogue Legacy 2 older $24.99 14,238 90% 427k $11M (exactly $10,674,229) Cellar Door Games
Have a Nice Death older $24.99 9,729 85% 292k $7.3M (exactly $7,293,831) Magic Design Studios
UFO 50 $24.99 7,134 94% 214k $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) Mossmouth
Anomaly Agent older $11.99 9,463 94% 284k $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) Phew Phew Games
Stick It to the Stickman · EA $11.99 7,918 96% 238k $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) Free Lives
We Need To Go Deeper older $15.99 4,652 86% 140k $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) Deli Interactive LLC
Chinese Online Game older $9.99 6,610 82% 198k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,017) 648工作室
Ratatan · EA $24.99 2,449 85% 73k $1.8M (exactly $1,836,015) TVT Co. Ltd., Ratata Arts
Neon Abyss 2 · EA $19.99 1,968 68% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) Veewo Games
再刷一把2：金色传说 $9.99 2,748 44% 82k $824k (exactly $823,576) 滑稽工作室
Goblin Vyke: The Thief Tycoon $14.99 1,397 70% 42k $628k (exactly $628,231) Art Thieves
Dinotica $17.99 746 86% 22k $403k (exactly $402,616) XA Studio
Dragon Is Dead $19.99 661 75% 20k $396k (exactly $396,402) TeamSuneat
Dunjungle $14.99 692 96% 21k $311k (exactly $311,192) Bruno Bombardi
Poetry of Blood: Eclipse · EA $14.99 406 91% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) ZeroGameStudio

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