Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel 2D Platformer?
2D Platformer + Visual Novel
Of 304 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 446 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×710 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 446 games are announced against 192 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,800) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,419) |
| Top 5% | $337k (exactly $337,388) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 304 |
| Released games | 837 |
| Announced | 446 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- 2D Platformer, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 23,295 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 161 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 446 games are announced against 192 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Platformer with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + VampiresFair
- + MechsFair
- + PinballFair
- + WesternFair
- + CRPGFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + MiningFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
Comparable games
Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 
魔女的夜宴 2023 · $10M 
月に寄りそう乙女の作法 2022 · $4.2M 
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo 2023 · $3.7M 
To Be or Not to Be 2022 · $3.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Night in the Woods | older | $19.99 | 17,760 94% | 533k | $11M (exactly $10,650,672) | Infinite Fall |
| | 魔女的夜宴 | older | $34.99 | 9,664 98% | 290k | $10M (exactly $10,144,301) | YUZUSOFT |
| | 月に寄りそう乙女の作法 | older | $39.99 | 3,462 97% | 104k | $4.2M (exactly $4,153,361) | Navel |
| | PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo | older | $19.99 | 6,123 95% | 184k | $3.7M (exactly $3,671,963) | Square Enix |
| | To Be or Not to Be | older | $12.99 | 8,035 89% | 241k | $3.1M (exactly $3,131,240) | Team K |
 | Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo | older | $29.99 | 2,718 95% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,445,385) | ωstar, Seikei Production |
 | Threefold Recital | $14.99 | 5,117 98% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,115) | Everscape Games | |
 | Hamidashi Creative | older | $29.99 | 2,360 94% | 71k | $2.1M (exactly $2,123,292) | madosoft |
 | Train45 | $10.99 | 3,823 97% | 115k | $1.3M (exactly $1,260,443) | Elniko | |
 | 候鸟 | older | $10.99 | 3,674 97% | 110k | $1.2M (exactly $1,211,318) | KIDFansClub |
 | 灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 | $9.99 | 3,682 90% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) | 莓夜工作室 | |
 | Fate/hollow ataraxia REMASTERED | $29.99 | 949 96% | 28k | $854k (exactly $853,815) | TYPE-MOON, fuzz Inc. | |
 | The Censor DX Edition | $17.99 | 1,467 82% | 44k | $792k (exactly $791,740) | Tiramisu, Big S Studio | |
 | Kugayama Shiori's Death Diary | $24.99 | 987 95% | 30k | $740k (exactly $739,954) | Laplacian | |
 | Kemono Teatime | $12.99 | 1,617 95% | 49k | $630k (exactly $630,145) | Studio Lalala, Kotoneiro, WHO YOU | |
 | The Dark Queen of Mortholme | $4.99 | 4,075 83% | 122k | $610k (exactly $610,028) | Mosu | |
 | AIR | $29.99 | 639 98% | 19k | $575k (exactly $574,908) | VISUAL ARTS/Key | |
 | Taiwan Love Story⁵ | $17.99 | 939 84% | 28k | $507k (exactly $506,778) | 快樂怪物, 紳士吉娃, Maker製造機 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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