Do I ship it?

Games › 3D Platformer › 3D Platformer + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer + Tower Defense

Of 30 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 27 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 16 developers shipped in the last year and 27 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 27 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $891 → $60 → $89 → $299 → $419 → $90 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $419 (exactly $419)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $20,845)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 95
Announced 27
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 down 25% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Tower Defense
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, Tower Defense; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Base Building
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
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 66% positive over 9,721 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 $180, 1 in 4 over $410, 1 in 20 over $20k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M The Front 2025 · $5.7M Topple Tactics 2023 · $411k Citadels 2013 · $169k TOTALLY BASEBALL 2021 · $67k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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
Topple Tactics older $9.99 1,370 88% 41k $411k (exactly $410,589) Braian Strak
Citadels older $14.99 375 13% 11k $169k (exactly $168,638) Games Distillery s.r.o.
TOTALLY BASEBALL older $14.99 149 87% 4.5k $67k (exactly $67,005) ZEVO GAMES
Arms Evolution: ZOMBIE DESTROYER older $5.99 268 64% 8.0k $48k (exactly $48,160) Ash Game Studio
OTTTD older $7.99 190 78% 5.7k $46k (exactly $45,543) SMG Studio
Last Stand: Defense $5.99 116 81% 3.5k $21k (exactly $20,845) ZiiTech Games
Alien Hallway older $4.99 122 72% 3.7k $18k (exactly $18,263) Sigma Team Inc.
Planet TD older $2.99 124 73% 3.7k $11k (exactly $11,123) MD Games
Heroic Aegisio: Origins $7.99 27 77% 810 $6.5k (exactly $6,472) Vview Games
Tactical Archer $19.99 3 33% 90 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Dejevis
Broken Defense · EA $12.99 2 100% 60 $779 (exactly $779) Sindre Skjellestad
Bearly Alive $7.99 3 100% 90 $719 (exactly $719) Falling Light
迫降Landing $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) SOT烈
Evil Siege $6.99 2 50% 60 $419 (exactly $419) MHD Homam AL Takrity, Munzer Mardini, H… (MHD Homam AL Takrity, Munzer Mardini, Hamza Bredy)
Tac Tower · EA $1.99 7 100% 210 $418 (exactly $418) A4C Studios
童话塔防 Fairy Tale Tower Defense $3.99 3 0% 90 $359 (exactly $359) guochao liu

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