Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi 3D Platformer?
3D Platformer + Sci-fi
Of 251 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 445 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 141 developers shipped in the last year and 445 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
| Top 5% | $289k (exactly $288,804) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 251 |
| Released games | 817 |
| Announced | 445 |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- 3D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Platformer
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 90,745 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 140 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 445 games are announced against 141 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
3D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + TransportationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + GolfFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + SokobanFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + AutomationFair
- + OffroadLong shot
- + Looter ShooterLong shot
- + CatsLong shot
Comparable games
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M 
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE 2022 · $52M 
Portal 2007 · $52M 
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart 2023 · $21M | 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 | |
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE | older | $39.99 | 43,473 87% | 1.3M | $52M (exactly $52,154,558) | Square Enix |
| | Portal | older | $9.99 | 173,594 98% | 5.2M | $52M (exactly $52,026,122) | Valve |
| | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | older | $59.99 | 11,529 90% | 346k | $21M (exactly $20,748,741) | Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software |
 | Mirror's Edge™ | older | $19.99 | 31,195 87% | 936k | $19M (exactly $18,707,642) | DICE |
 | The Talos Principle 2 | older | $29.99 | 12,478 94% | 374k | $11M (exactly $11,226,457) | Croteam |
 | CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION | older | $49.99 | 6,949 89% | 208k | $10M (exactly $10,421,415) | Square Enix, TOSE CO., LTD. |
 | Mirror's Edge™ Catalyst | older | $19.99 | 14,078 79% | 422k | $8.4M (exactly $8,442,577) | DICE |
 | Sonic Adventure 2 | older | $9.99 | 23,755 90% | 713k | $7.1M (exactly $7,119,374) | SEGA |
 | Voidling Bound | $24.99 | 3,126 92% | 94k | $2.3M (exactly $2,343,562) | Hatchery Games | |
 | SHUTEN ORDER | $49.99 | 712 80% | 21k | $1.1M (exactly $1,067,786) | Neilo Inc. | |
 | MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED BATTLE DESTINY REMASTERED | $39.99 | 757 77% | 23k | $908k (exactly $908,173) | Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc. | |
 | Luna Abyss | $29.99 | 923 86% | 28k | $830k (exactly $830,423) | Kwalee Labs | |
 | VHOLUME | $8.00 | 2,992 97% | 90k | $718k (exactly $718,080) | Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels… (Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin) | |
 | Clone Drone in the Hyperdome | $19.99 | 1,048 91% | 31k | $628k (exactly $628,486) | Doborog Games | |
 | Bubsy 4D | $19.99 | 777 92% | 23k | $466k (exactly $465,967) | Fabraz | |
 | CICADAMATA" | $9.99 | 1,419 96% | 43k | $425k (exactly $425,274) | ✿ flowergarden | |
 | Schrodinger's Cat Burglar | $19.99 | 613 97% | 18k | $368k (exactly $367,616) | Abandoned Sheep |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.