Do I ship it?

Games › RPG › RPG + 3D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 3D Platformer RPG?

RPG + 3D Platformer

Of 289 developers who shipped a 3D Platformer RPG 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.. 502 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 159 developers shipped in the last year and 502 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 120% on the market, 502 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + 3D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 289
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $599 → $416 → $360 → $252 → $838 → $479 (still earning) → $298 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + 3D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 289
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $450 (exactly $450)
Top 25% $4.7k (exactly $4,676)
Top 5% $242k (exactly $242,019)
Developers, 2 yr 289
Released games 1,002
Announced 502
Effort 6 / 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 120% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

RPG
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
RPG, 3D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Story Rich
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 85% positive over 48,456 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $4.6k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 206 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 502 games are announced against 159 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE 2022 · $52M Persona® 5 Strikers 2021 · $23M Another Crab's Treasure 2024 · $15M Death's Door 2021 · $12M CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION 2022 · $10M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE older $39.99 43,473 87% 1.3M $52M (exactly $52,154,558) Square Enix
Persona® 5 Strikers older $59.99 12,864 88% 386k $23M (exactly $23,151,341) ATLUS
Another Crab's Treasure older $29.99 16,863 93% 506k $15M (exactly $15,171,641) Aggro Crab
Death's Door older $19.99 19,330 93% 580k $12M (exactly $11,592,201) Acid Nerve
CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION older $49.99 6,949 89% 208k $10M (exactly $10,421,415) Square Enix, TOSE CO., LTD.
Cultivation Tales older $19.99 12,560 38% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) Ac Games
Starsand Island $39.99 5,898 76% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) Seed Sparkle Lab
Mirror 2: Project X · EA older $1.99 111,251 24% 3.3M $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs
ATLYSS · EA $9.99 19,244 96% 577k $5.8M (exactly $5,767,427) Kiseff
The Front $19.99 9,555 66% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) Samar Studio
FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE $49.99 2,663 87% 80k $4.0M (exactly $3,993,701) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Voidling Bound $24.99 3,126 92% 94k $2.3M (exactly $2,343,562) Hatchery Games
Skate Story $19.99 2,733 96% 82k $1.6M (exactly $1,638,980) by Sam Eng
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide $39.99 1,151 93% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,380,855) Purple Lamp
IfSunSets · EA $19.99 2,284 74% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) POLYMORPH
Yooka-Replaylee $29.99 1,045 92% 31k $940k (exactly $940,186) Playtonic Games
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED BATTLE DESTINY REMASTERED $39.99 757 77% 23k $908k (exactly $908,173) Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc.

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