Do I ship it?

Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Swordplay game?

Swordplay + 2D Platformer

Of 41 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Swordplay game 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.. 90 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $510; 1 in 20 cleared $98k, ×158 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 90 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 90 announced, ×4.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Swordplay + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.0k → $30 → $449 → $1.5k → $3.6k → $6.5k → $597 (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Swordplay + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $505 (exactly $505)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $6.5k (exactly $6,458)
Top 5% $99k (exactly $98,939)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 134
Announced 90
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Swordplay
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Swordplay, 2D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 3,723 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $510, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $6.4k, 1 in 20 over $98k.

3 in 10 developers made under $510. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 90 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Swordplay with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelFair13 devs · median $5.7k · 10 announced
  2. + Strategy RPGFair22 devs · median $2.7k · 28 announced
  3. + IdlerFair9 devs · median $2.7k · 4 announced
  4. + Auto BattlerFair13 devs · median $1.1k · 8 announced
  5. + DeckbuildingFair11 devs · median $599 · 13 announced
  6. + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  7. + SamuraiPoor odds12 devs · median $80k · 21 announced
  8. + JRPGPoor odds16 devs · median $14k · 22 announced
  9. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds39 devs · median $13k · 79 announced
  10. + FightingPoor odds13 devs · median $13k · 33 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds19 devs · median $12k · 53 announced
  12. + Base BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 26 announced

All 115 pairs on the Swordplay page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Psychic Kung Fu Master 2026 · $1.0M 英雄群侠传II 2019 · $756k The Spirit of the Samurai 2024 · $248k Panzer Paladin 2020 · $200k Unto The End 2020 · $173k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Psychic Kung Fu Master $19.99 1,723 60% 52k $1.0M (exactly $1,033,283) 金十四工作室
英雄群侠传II older $11.99 2,103 88% 63k $756k (exactly $756,449) 熊窝dodox
The Spirit of the Samurai $19.99 413 59% 12k $248k (exactly $247,676) Digital Mind Games
Panzer Paladin older $19.99 334 76% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Tribute Games Inc.
Unto The End older $14.99 385 73% 12k $173k (exactly $173,134) 2 Ton Studios
Ato older $14.99 339 97% 10k $152k (exactly $152,448) Tiny Warrior Games
Exorcist Fairy older $12.99 273 62% 8.2k $106k (exactly $106,388) 青岛三脚猫工作室
小小侠客模拟器 $2.99 1,103 86% 33k $99k (exactly $98,939) 小小游戏
NINJA SLAYER NEO-SAITAMA IN FLAMES(ニンジャスレイヤー ネオサイタマ炎上) older $19.99 162 39% 4.9k $97k (exactly $97,151) Skeleton Crew Studio
IGS Classic Arcade Collection $29.99 94 60% 2.8k $85k (exactly $84,572) IGS(台灣鈊象電子)
Lia: Hacking Destiny $14.99 92 96% 2.8k $41k (exactly $41,372) Orube Game Studio
Adventure of Samsara $19.99 66 89% 2.0k $40k (exactly $39,580) Ilex Games
Beholgar 2 $11.99 77 80% 2.3k $28k (exactly $27,697) Serkan Bakar
Sacre Bleu $14.99 46 82% 1.4k $21k (exactly $20,686) Hildring Studio Inc
Janosik 2 $8.99 70 95% 2.1k $19k (exactly $18,879) Onix Games
Dustless $5.99 39 71% 1.2k $7.0k (exactly $7,008) 神刀之死

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