Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + War
Should I ship a War 2D Platformer?
2D Platformer + War
Of 53 developers who shipped a War 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.. 62 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 35 developers shipped in the last year and 62 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $360 (exactly $360) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 5% | $67k (exactly $66,758) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 192 |
| Announced | 62 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- War
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- 2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, RPG
- 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, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 674 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
2D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + VampiresFair
- + MechsFair
- + PinballFair
- + WesternFair
- + CRPGFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + MiningFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
Comparable games
Pizza Tower 2023 · $40M 
METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake 2023 · $465k 
Super Meat Boy Forever 2022 · $282k 
Torn Away 2023 · $268k 
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home 2024 · $238k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pizza Tower | older | $19.99 | 66,350 98% | 2.0M | $40M (exactly $39,790,095) | Tour De Pizza |
| | METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake | older | $19.99 | 775 83% | 23k | $465k (exactly $464,767) | KONAMI |
| | Super Meat Boy Forever | older | $4.99 | 1,881 58% | 56k | $282k (exactly $281,586) | Team Meat |
| | Torn Away | older | $14.99 | 595 92% | 18k | $268k (exactly $267,572) | perelesoq |
| | Valiant Hearts: Coming Home | older | $14.99 | 529 62% | 16k | $238k (exactly $237,891) | Ubisoft Da Nang, Ubisoft Montpellier |
 | METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.1 BONUS CONTENT | older | $59.99 | 125 63% | 3.8k | $225k (exactly $224,962) | KONAMI |
 | Commando Collection | older | $4.99 | 1,414 95% | 42k | $212k (exactly $211,676) | Macrojoy |
 | Double Dragon Revive | $34.99 | 157 63% | 4.7k | $165k (exactly $164,803) | YUKE’S | |
 | Rise & Shine | older | $9.99 | 453 73% | 14k | $136k (exactly $135,764) | Super Mega Team |
 | Oriental Dynasty - Silk Road defense war | older | $5.99 | 616 75% | 18k | $111k (exactly $110,695) | 星环游戏 |
 | No Retreat! The Russian Front | $29.99 | 80 76% | 2.4k | $72k (exactly $71,976) | Cyril Jarnot, Avalon Digital | |
 | STRANGER SAGA -Stranger Bach and Iskiyeld's Ambition- | $9.89 | 225 86% | 6.8k | $67k (exactly $66,758) | Retro Game Balance & Mechanics -レトロ… (Retro Game Balance & Mechanics -レトロゲームの手応えとバランスを追求するデザイン工房-) | |
 | Eutolant Saga | $15.99 | 114 92% | 3.4k | $55k (exactly $54,686) | Oistar Games | |
 | FZ: Formation Z | $29.99 | 16 87% | 480 | $14k (exactly $14,395) | Granzella Inc. | |
 | Three Kingdoms: Shu-Han Chronicles | $12.99 | 20 45% | 600 | $7.8k (exactly $7,794) | QianFan Game | |
 | WolfFang SkullFang Saturn Tribute Boosted | $19.99 | 12 66% | 360 | $7.2k (exactly $7,196) | CITY CONNECTION | |
 | Star Titans : War of the Galaxy | $14.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | Mediawork | |
 | The Orc Invasion | $10.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) | ATK Games | |
 | Dark Adelita | $5.99 | 23 95% | 690 | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) | Brain-dead Rabbit Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.