Do I ship it?

Games › Collectathon › Collectathon + Arcade

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon Arcade game?

Collectathon + Arcade

Of 277 developers who shipped a Collectathon Arcade 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.. 274 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $140. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 274 games are announced against 173 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 274 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon + Arcade
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 277
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $836 → $838 → $838 → $898 → $479 → $719 → $330 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon + Arcade: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 277
Bottom 30% $134 (exactly $134)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,155)
Top 5% $42k (exactly $41,895)
Developers, 2 yr 277
Released games 695
Announced 274
Effort 4 / 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 35% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon, Arcade; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Incremental, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 32,300 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $140, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.1k, 1 in 20 over $41k.

3 in 10 developers made under $140. 9 in 10 of the 131 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 274 games are announced against 173 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds33 devs · median $33k · 42 announced
  2. + CapitalismStrong odds76 devs · median $6.2k · 75 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  4. + EconomyFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  5. + ManagementFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  6. + CrimeFair10 devs · median $3.4k · 14 announced
  7. + Level EditorFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $2.7k · 30 announced
  9. + SokobanFair12 devs · median $2.4k · 9 announced
  10. + MythologyFair18 devs · median $2.4k · 20 announced
  11. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $2.3k · 37 announced
  12. + Combat RacingFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced

All 178 pairs on the Collectathon page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Shelldiver 2025 · $2.5M SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide 2025 · $1.4M Keep on Mining! 2025 · $1.2M Flower 2019 · $1.0M Yooka-Replaylee 2025 · $940k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide $39.99 1,151 93% 35k $1.4M (exactly $1,380,855) Purple Lamp
Keep on Mining! $4.99 8,300 93% 249k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,510) EagleEye Games
Flower older $6.99 4,790 79% 144k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,463) thatgamecompany
Yooka-Replaylee $29.99 1,045 92% 31k $940k (exactly $940,186) Playtonic Games
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom older $16.99 1,621 97% 49k $826k (exactly $826,224) Panik Arcade
Kao the Kangaroo older $29.99 871 74% 26k $784k (exactly $783,639) Tate Multimedia
Promenade older $19.99 841 94% 25k $504k (exactly $504,348) Holy Cap
Amazing Frog? 2 · EA older $19.99 726 77% 22k $435k (exactly $435,382) Fayju
Keep on Mining! - Worlds $6.99 1,899 80% 57k $398k (exactly $398,220) EagleEye Games
Budgie's Bug Shop $5.99 1,016 96% 30k $183k (exactly $182,575) Moon Lagoon
Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas $5.99 886 85% 27k $159k (exactly $159,214) Happy Universe Studios
Agrivore: Incremental Farming $6.99 494 70% 15k $104k (exactly $103,592) verty
Fishing The Abyss $6.99 421 95% 13k $88k (exactly $88,284) umaaaaaa studio
Maiden Cops $9.99 282 87% 8.5k $85k (exactly $84,515) Pippin Games

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