Do I ship it?

Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer + Psychological Horror

Of 227 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 222 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×255 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 222 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 222 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 227
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.1k → $2.0k → $1.4k → $1.9k → $899 → $628 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 227
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $4.9k (exactly $4,852)
Top 5% $160k (exactly $160,202)
Developers, 2 yr 227
Released games 546
Announced 222
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 down 40% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Psychological Horror
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 105,655 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $900, 1 in 4 over $4.8k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 154 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 222 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

3D Platformer with a different setting or mood, 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

Split Fiction 2025 · $118M Gorilla Tag 2023 · $32M Hello Neighbor 2017 · $24M SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS 2024 · $18M Sonic Forces 2017 · $8.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Gorilla Tag older $19.99 52,637 93% 1.6M $32M (exactly $31,566,409) Another Axiom Inc.
Hello Neighbor older $29.99 26,329 87% 790k $24M (exactly $23,688,201) Dynamic Pixels
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
Sonic Forces older $39.99 6,742 61% 202k $8.1M (exactly $8,088,377) Sonic Team, Hardlight
Mirror 2: Project X · EA older $1.99 111,251 24% 3.3M $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs
In Sound Mind older $34.99 5,467 95% 164k $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) We Create Stuff
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash older $59.99 3,051 60% 92k $5.5M (exactly $5,490,885) Byking Inc.
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.
Finding Frankie $14.99 1,886 90% 57k $848k (exactly $848,134) SUPERLOU
VHOLUME $8.00 2,992 97% 90k $718k (exactly $718,080) Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin)
Super Meat Boy 3D $24.99 828 87% 25k $621k (exactly $620,752) Sluggerfly, Team Meat
Animal Company · EA $19.99 749 86% 22k $449k (exactly $449,175) Wooster Games
Egging On $14.99 747 74% 22k $336k (exactly $335,926) Egobounds
Metro Gravity $12.99 852 92% 26k $332k (exactly $332,024) mrkogamedev

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