Do I ship it?

Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer + Dungeon Crawler

Of 61 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler 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.. 112 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $52k, ×83 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 112 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 112 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 61
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $299 → $478 → $479 → $899 → $2.1k → $450 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 61
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $537 (exactly $537)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,588)
Top 5% $52k (exactly $52,220)
Developers, 2 yr 61
Released games 169
Announced 112
Effort 5 / 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 10% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Dungeon Crawler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
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 90% positive over 1,902 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $540, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $52k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 112 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 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

Death's Door 2021 · $12M Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness 2022 · $4.8M Moncage 2021 · $2.3M The Forgotten Concluder 2023 · $670k Bloodthief 2025 · $610k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Death's Door older $19.99 19,330 93% 580k $12M (exactly $11,592,201) Acid Nerve
Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness older $59.99 2,650 79% 80k $4.8M (exactly $4,769,205) Chime Corporation
Moncage older $14.99 5,127 92% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,305,612) Optillusion
The Forgotten Concluder older $24.99 894 74% 27k $670k (exactly $670,232) Kunpo Games
Bloodthief $19.99 1,017 95% 31k $610k (exactly $609,895) Blargis
METAL DOGS older $19.99 766 81% 23k $459k (exactly $459,370) 24Frame,inc.
Nakara $9.99 310 91% 9.3k $93k (exactly $92,907) R3dspike
He Who Watches $19.99 109 96% 3.3k $65k (exactly $65,367) Bobby Vanden
XiuzhenWorld2 $12.99 134 67% 4.0k $52k (exactly $52,220) Noforgetit
Trifox older $19.99 63 82% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Glowfish Interactive
DungeonCrawlers $8.99 77 68% 2.3k $21k (exactly $20,767) KusanohitoCreative
CosmicGalaxyWars $19.99 34 76% 1.0k $20k (exactly $20,390) YOSHITSUNA INC.
Hope Deferred $19.99 31 100% 930 $19k (exactly $18,591) Tell All
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
Mythrealm · EA $14.99 33 87% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Delta Video Games
PETS $4.99 95 89% 2.9k $14k (exactly $14,222) Save& Studio

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