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Should I ship a Level Editor Platformer?
Level Editor + Platformer
Of 83 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 171 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $69k, ×110 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 171 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) |
| Top 5% | $69k (exactly $69,034) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 83 |
| Released games | 369 |
| Announced | 171 |
| 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 up 70% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Level Editor, Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 3D Platformer, Precision Platformer
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 3D, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,113 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 47 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 171 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Level Editor with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + AutomationLong shot
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
Geometry Dash 2014 · $89M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Ultimate Chicken Horse 2016 · $18M 
SpeedRunners 2016 · $10M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | Geometry Dash | older | $4.99 | 595,606 93% | 18M | $89M (exactly $89,162,218) | RobTop Games |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
| | SpeedRunners | older | $14.99 | 22,842 94% | 685k | $10M (exactly $10,272,047) | DoubleDutch Games |
 | Clustertruck | older | $14.99 | 14,706 93% | 441k | $6.6M (exactly $6,613,288) | Landfall |
 | Distance | older | $24.99 | 5,832 93% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,372,250) | Refract |
 | Gunpoint | older | $9.99 | 10,276 97% | 308k | $3.1M (exactly $3,079,717) | Suspicious Developments |
 | 30XX | older | $19.99 | 2,514 90% | 75k | $1.5M (exactly $1,507,646) | Batterystaple Games |
 | Trials Fusion™ | older | $19.99 | 2,285 66% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,370,314) | RedLynx, in collaboration with Ubisoft… (RedLynx, in collaboration with Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Kiev) |
 | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
 | Shotgun Cop Man | $9.99 | 633 96% | 19k | $190k (exactly $189,710) | DeadToast Entertainment | |
 | Ultimate Sheep Raccoon | $19.99 | 205 45% | 6.2k | $123k (exactly $122,938) | Clever Endeavour Games | |
 | Rocket Boots Mania | $14.99 | 229 99% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $102,981) | Luma Play | |
 | Valkyrie Saga | $7.99 | 288 92% | 8.6k | $69k (exactly $69,034) | Public Void | |
 | Oeuf | $9.99 | 90 94% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,973) | increpare games | |
 | Ballest of Them All | · EA | $5.99 | 110 97% | 3.3k | $20k (exactly $19,767) | Low5ive, Action Jackson |
 | XFlight: FPV Drone Simulator | $24.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $18k (exactly $17,993) | Lingsrealm Technology | |
 | Tick Hop | $2.99 | 196 79% | 5.9k | $18k (exactly $17,581) | 小磊又饿又困 | |
 | Starlair | $19.99 | 17 58% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Shooty Bazooky |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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