Do I ship it?

Games › Runner › Runner + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Runner?

Runner + Futuristic

Of 63 developers who shipped a Futuristic Runner 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.. 94 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 38 developers shipped in the last year and 94 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 94 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Runner + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 63
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $179 → $959 → $210 → $748 → $90 → $150 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Runner + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 63
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $802 (exactly $802)
Top 5% $4.8k (exactly $4,790)
Developers, 2 yr 63
Released games 193
Announced 94
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 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Runner
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Runner; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Racing
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized, Fast-Paced
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 844 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 $120, 1 in 4 over $800, 1 in 20 over $4.7k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 94 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Runner with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 10 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + PsychologicalFair14 devs · median $839 · 12 announced
  4. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $838 · 8 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair12 devs · median $750 · 11 announced
  6. + Time AttackFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced
  7. + FPSLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  8. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds12 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  9. + MusicPoor odds16 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $1.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds40 devs · median $898 · 64 announced
  12. + Interactive FictionPoor odds10 devs · median $839 · 16 announced

All 123 pairs on the Runner page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Retrowave 2022 · $1.2M STRIDE 2022 · $1.2M DeathSprint 66 2024 · $297k Neodash 2022 · $231k Relooted 2026 · $116k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Retrowave older $2.99 13,742 96% 412k $1.2M (exactly $1,232,657) RewindApp
STRIDE older $19.99 1,975 79% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,184,408) Joy Way
DeathSprint 66 older $19.99 495 83% 15k $297k (exactly $296,852) Sumo Digital
Neodash older $15.99 481 90% 14k $231k (exactly $230,736) Axan Gray
Relooted $14.99 257 87% 7.7k $116k (exactly $115,573) Nyamakop
Retrowave 2 $4.99 449 88% 13k $67k (exactly $67,215) RewindApp
Spectrolite older $16.99 37 89% 1.1k $19k (exactly $18,859) Noel Hetei, Andor Valentiny
《Drifting : Weight of Feathers》 older $11.99 48 72% 1.4k $17k (exactly $17,266) MING YEN WU
Celerity older $4.99 114 76% 3.4k $17k (exactly $17,066) Gwyn Games
Moto Rush Reborn $12.99 43 97% 1.3k $17k (exactly $16,757) Baltoro Games
TIRELESS: Prepare For The Adrenaline $4.99 32 84% 960 $4.8k (exactly $4,790) naro
Sportvida CyberDash $19.99 7 85% 210 $4.2k (exactly $4,198) ible Sportvida
NINJA KAMUI: SHINOBI ORIGINS $19.99 6 100% 180 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) G.rev Ltd.
Echobreaker $8.99 12 100% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Upstream Arcade
Hyper Flux $6.99 12 91% 360 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Furegus
G-Switch 4: Creator $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Serius Games
Money Theft $4.99 13 76% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka

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