Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + 3D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 3D Platformer Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + 3D Platformer

Of 733 developers who shipped a 3D Platformer Action-Adventure 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.. 1,203 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×383 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 1,203 games are announced against 389 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 1,203 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + 3D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 733
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $599 → $538 → $628 → $599 → $897 → $449 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + 3D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 733
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $537 (exactly $537)
Top 25% $3.7k (exactly $3,742)
Top 5% $240k (exactly $240,480)
Developers, 2 yr 733
Released games 2,165
Announced 1,203
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 35% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Action-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
3D Platformer
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
Action-Adventure, 3D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Funny
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 95% positive over 131,635 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 $540, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 475 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,203 games are announced against 389 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
It Takes Two older $39.99 218,492 95% 6.6M $262M (exactly $262,124,852) Hazelight Studios
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Portal 2 older $9.99 390,412 98% 12M $117M (exactly $117,006,476) Valve
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE older $39.99 43,473 87% 1.3M $52M (exactly $52,154,558) Square Enix
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle $69.99 13,058 89% 392k $27M (exactly $27,417,883) MachineGames
Sonic Frontiers older $39.99 22,701 90% 681k $27M (exactly $27,234,390) Sonic Team
Hello Neighbor older $29.99 26,329 87% 790k $24M (exactly $23,688,201) Dynamic Pixels
Persona® 5 Strikers older $59.99 12,864 88% 386k $23M (exactly $23,151,341) ATLUS
Psychonauts 2 older $59.99 12,333 95% 370k $22M (exactly $22,195,700) Double Fine Productions
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart older $59.99 11,529 90% 346k $21M (exactly $20,748,741) Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software
LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight $69.99 8,728 95% 262k $18M (exactly $18,326,182) TT Games
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
South of Midnight $39.99 4,382 94% 131k $5.3M (exactly $5,257,085) Compulsion Games
FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE $49.99 2,663 87% 80k $4.0M (exactly $3,993,701) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
My Little Puppy $24.99 4,435 97% 133k $3.3M (exactly $3,324,920) Dreamotion Inc.
Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered $29.99 3,042 90% 91k $2.7M (exactly $2,736,887) Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics
The Plucky Squire $29.99 2,795 84% 84k $2.5M (exactly $2,514,662) All Possible Futures
LEGO® Harry Potter™ Collection $39.99 1,464 82% 44k $1.8M (exactly $1,756,361) TT Games, Double Eleven

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