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Should I ship an Alien Precision Platformer?
Precision Platformer + Aliens
Of 23 developers who shipped an Alien Precision 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.. 24 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $26k, ×56 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 5% | $27k (exactly $26,632) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 40% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Precision Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Precision Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 799 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Precision Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DemonsFair
- + FPSFair
- + GothicFair
- + HorrorFair
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Action RoguelikeFair
- + Time ManipulationFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Procedural GenerationFair
- + RPGFair
Comparable games
Xeodrifter 2014 · $221k 
Space Accident VR 2025 · $118k 
B.I.O.T.A. 2022 · $62k 
Dofamine VR 2025 · $52k 
This Is No Cave 2025 · $27k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Xeodrifter | older | $9.99 | 738 75% | 22k | $221k (exactly $221,179) | Atooi |
| | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
| | B.I.O.T.A. | older | $9.99 | 206 85% | 6.2k | $62k (exactly $61,738) | small bros |
| | Dofamine VR | $9.99 | 173 82% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,848) | VR-WRG | |
| | This Is No Cave | $6.99 | 127 96% | 3.8k | $27k (exactly $26,632) | monome.studio | |
 | ION Shift | $5.99 | 140 90% | 4.2k | $25k (exactly $25,158) | Electro Soul Games | |
 | Frebbventure | older | $12.99 | 53 98% | 1.6k | $21k (exactly $20,654) | AlmyriganHero |
 | LOST ORBIT: Terminal Velocity | older | $9.99 | 28 85% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | PixelNAUTS Games |
 | Abduction Bit | older | $0.99 | 244 89% | 7.3k | $7.2k (exactly $7,247) | SEEP |
 | Galacticon | older | $4.99 | 46 100% | 1.4k | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) | Radin Games |
 | BeDo | $4.99 | 39 100% | 1.2k | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) | Felipe Jimenez, Reborilux | |
 | DOSTAVKA | $2.99 | 38 92% | 1.1k | $3.4k (exactly $3,409) | SASHADEV, SASHA | |
 | 4番線 | Platform 4 | $4.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | MFC STUDIO, KOSEI YASUDA | |
 | Alien Breakout | $1.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $1.7k (exactly $1,672) | Vergiu | |
 | Iluminatus Bizarre Ascent | $5.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) | EIS Games, Iluminatus | |
 | Xenogen | $7.49 | 4 100% | 120 | $899 (exactly $899) | Sylph |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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