Do I ship it?

Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Runner 2D Platformer?

2D Platformer + Runner

Of 175 developers who shipped a Runner 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.. 157 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $170 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 97 developers shipped in the last year and 157 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 157 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
2D Platformer + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 175
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $360 → $120 → $120 → $238 → $120 → $298 → $150 (still earning) → $59 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 2D Platformer + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 175
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $839 (exactly $839)
Top 5% $9.9k (exactly $9,893)
Developers, 2 yr 175
Released games 605
Announced 157
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 20% 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
Runner
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, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Side Scroller
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 4,445 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $830, 1 in 20 over $9.8k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 98 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 97 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. + RoguelikeFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  11. + Party-Based RPGFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  12. + Tactical RPGFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced

All 226 pairs on the 2D Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mighty Goose 2021 · $566k I wanna be the Creator 2019 · $514k Bionic Bay 2025 · $450k Nitro Express 2025 · $417k pureya 2021 · $403k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mighty Goose older $19.99 943 86% 28k $566k (exactly $565,517) Blastmode, MP2 Games
I wanna be the Creator older $5.99 2,860 94% 86k $514k (exactly $513,942) Aikesi
Bionic Bay $19.99 750 84% 23k $450k (exactly $449,775) Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy
Nitro Express $12.99 1,069 75% 32k $417k (exactly $416,589) Grayfax Software
pureya older $5.99 2,242 96% 67k $403k (exactly $402,887) Majorariatto
Super Meat Boy Forever older $4.99 1,881 58% 56k $282k (exactly $281,586) Team Meat
Dino Run DX older $5.99 1,124 95% 34k $202k (exactly $201,983) Pixeljam
CONERU -DIMENSION GIRL- $19.99 263 96% 7.9k $158k (exactly $157,721) HIKE Inc., Eallin Japan Co.Ltd.
The Fancy Pants Adventures: Classic Pack · EA older $9.99 414 84% 12k $124k (exactly $124,076) Borne Games
GuGu Pizza : Delivering Pizza to the Space Station? Boss, this is just not right! $6.99 517 87% 16k $108k (exactly $108,415) AnomalyGuys
WASD : The Adventure of Tori $3.99 730 83% 22k $87k (exactly $87,381) EVNA Games
Momoka (wo) Wasshoi $3.50 804 94% 24k $84k (exactly $84,420) TOEI ANIMATION Co.,Ltd
This Is No Cave $6.99 127 96% 3.8k $27k (exactly $26,632) monome.studio
Abyss Runner $6.99 105 86% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,018) Asuwawagami
Memori · EA $14.99 22 95% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) PracticalNPC
Horse Runner DX $4.99 58 91% 1.7k $8.7k (exactly $8,683) Mat Makes Games

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