Do I ship it?

Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Arcade 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer + Arcade

Of 444 developers who shipped an Arcade 3D 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.. 493 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 264 developers shipped in the last year and 493 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 493 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 444
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $624 → $359 → $386 → $898 → $446 → $299 → $270 (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 444
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.7k (exactly $1,731)
Top 5% $32k (exactly $32,364)
Developers, 2 yr 444
Released games 1,444
Announced 493
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

3D Platformer
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
3D Platformer, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 26,690 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $32k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 283 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 493 games are announced against 264 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

3D Platformer with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + TransportationFair13 devs · median $3.1k · 12 announced
  2. + MiningFair11 devs · median $1.3k · 11 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair36 devs · median $748 · 29 announced
  4. + GolfFair16 devs · median $719 · 16 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair44 devs · median $716 · 39 announced
  6. + SokobanFair12 devs · median $599 · 9 announced
  7. + Survival HorrorFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  8. + Perma DeathFair36 devs · median $537 · 36 announced
  9. + AutomationFair25 devs · median $450 · 21 announced
  10. + OffroadLong shot14 devs · median $478 · 12 announced
  11. + Looter ShooterLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  12. + CatsLong shot66 devs · median $420 · 74 announced

All 216 pairs on the 3D Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Psychonauts 2 2021 · $22M Haste 2025 · $7.6M Journey To The Savage Planet 2021 · $5.1M Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 3 + 4 2025 · $2.3M FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves 2026 · $1.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Psychonauts 2 older $59.99 12,333 95% 370k $22M (exactly $22,195,700) Double Fine Productions
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
Journey To The Savage Planet older $29.99 5,674 87% 170k $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) Typhoon
Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 3 + 4 $49.99 1,554 68% 47k $2.3M (exactly $2,330,534) Iron Galaxy Studios
FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves $19.99 3,135 82% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,880,059) SNK CORPORATION
Denshattack! $19.99 2,910 98% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,745,127) Undercoders
PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC older $29.99 1,644 92% 49k $1.5M (exactly $1,479,107) NOW PRODUCTION
Cyber Hook older $14.99 3,102 95% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,394,969) Blazing Stick
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide $39.99 1,151 93% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,380,855) Purple Lamp
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania older $29.99 1,313 82% 39k $1.2M (exactly $1,181,306) RGG Studio
Yooka-Replaylee $29.99 1,045 92% 31k $940k (exactly $940,186) Playtonic Games
VHOLUME $8.00 2,992 97% 90k $718k (exactly $718,080) Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin)
PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC $29.99 694 90% 21k $624k (exactly $624,392) NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World — Director’s Cut $29.99 345 82% 10k $310k (exactly $310,396) VEA Games
The Smurfs – Dreams $29.99 174 92% 5.2k $157k (exactly $156,548) Ocellus Studio

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