Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + 3D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 3D Platformer Survival game?

Survival + 3D Platformer

Of 124 developers who shipped a 3D Platformer Survival game 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.. 184 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 61 developers shipped in the last year and 184 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 184 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + 3D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 124
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $598 → $479 → $356 → $359 → $299 → $359 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + 3D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 124
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Top 5% $27k (exactly $26,970)
Developers, 2 yr 124
Released games 405
Announced 184
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 down 25% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.

Survival
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
Survival, 3D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 12,676 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $270, 1 in 4 over $1.9k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 77 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 184 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hello Neighbor 2017 · $24M Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M The Front 2025 · $5.7M Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness 2022 · $4.8M Valley 2016 · $2.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hello Neighbor older $29.99 26,329 87% 790k $24M (exactly $23,688,201) Dynamic Pixels
Cultivation Tales older $19.99 12,560 38% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) Ac Games
The Front $19.99 9,555 66% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) Samar Studio
Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness older $59.99 2,650 79% 80k $4.8M (exactly $4,769,205) Chime Corporation
Valley older $14.99 6,276 91% 188k $2.8M (exactly $2,822,317) Blue Isle Studios
Praey for the Gods older $29.99 2,489 82% 75k $2.2M (exactly $2,239,353) No Matter Studios
轮回修仙路 older $16.99 2,945 82% 88k $1.5M (exactly $1,501,066) 烟水寒工作室
ALTF4 older $2.99 9,452 80% 284k $848k (exactly $847,844) PUMPKIM
Last Train Outta' Wormtown $11.99 1,453 96% 44k $523k (exactly $522,644) Get(Color) Games
Die Young older $9.99 1,521 78% 46k $456k (exactly $455,844) IndieGala
Nuclear Epoch $14.99 487 78% 15k $219k (exactly $219,004) Cat Play Studio
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
The AC130 slays the zombies. $3.99 377 63% 11k $45k (exactly $45,127) 汪双羽
ZOMVIRUS $14.99 61 77% 1.8k $27k (exactly $27,432) DMONG Co., Ltd.
Deep Blue: Devour and Evolve $8.99 100 83% 3.0k $27k (exactly $26,970) ZHOUZEMING
FALL $4.99 153 88% 4.6k $23k (exactly $22,904) 谭浩翔
Last Stand: Defense $5.99 116 81% 3.5k $21k (exactly $20,845) ZiiTech Games
OYASUMII $6.99 98 83% 2.9k $21k (exactly $20,551) NEO PROJECT Studios

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