Do I ship it?

Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Base Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Base Building 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer + Base Building

Of 32 developers who shipped a Base Building 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 17 developers shipped in the last year and 63 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 63 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer + Base Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $450 → $60 → $330 → $210 → $2.0k → $480 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer + Base Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 85
Announced 63
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 up 90% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
3D Platformer, Base Building; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Building, Crafting, Sandbox
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 62% positive over 17,567 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $480, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $1.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

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

The Front 2025 · $5.7M s&box 2026 · $1.5M IfSunSets 2024 · EA · $1.4M The Enjenir: The Engineering Physics Building Simulator 2023 · EA · $306k Nuclear Epoch 2026 · $219k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Front $19.99 9,555 66% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) Samar Studio
s&box $9.99 5,118 46% 154k $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) Facepunch Studios
IfSunSets · EA $19.99 2,284 74% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) POLYMORPH
The Enjenir: The Engineering Physics Building Simulator · EA older $14.99 681 91% 20k $306k (exactly $306,246) PeatyTurf
Nuclear Epoch $14.99 487 78% 15k $219k (exactly $219,004) Cat Play Studio
Citadels older $14.99 375 13% 11k $169k (exactly $168,638) Games Distillery s.r.o.
sunny-place older $6.99 91 97% 2.7k $19k (exactly $19,083) tjern
Alien Hallway older $4.99 122 72% 3.7k $18k (exactly $18,263) Sigma Team Inc.
Chang'an: The capital of Tang Dynasty older $9.99 58 70% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,383) Romulus
The Maze Survivor: The 9th Entrants $8.99 62 82% 1.9k $17k (exactly $16,721) 崔资坦独立游戏Triztan IndieGame
Bottomless Pit Supervisor $4.99 17 58% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) sudo make
Forest Factory Simulator $3.99 17 41% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) Samle Indie Studio
Hexfactory $4.99 10 60% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Aquila Industrial
Girl Island · EA $4.99 9 66% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) Little Fish Studio
Vらいふ $4.99 8 100% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) MeteorWing

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