Do I ship it?

Games › Level Editor › Level Editor + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Runner?

Level Editor + Runner

Of 23 developers who shipped a Level Editor 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.. 39 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $54k, ×87 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 39 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 39 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Level Editor + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $145k → $3.1k → $150 → $20k → $120 → $0 (still earning) → $598 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Level Editor + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $450 (exactly $450)
Top 25% $6.2k (exactly $6,232)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $54,414)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 67
Announced 39
Effort 5 / 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 50% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Runner
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
Level Editor, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Precision Platformer, 3D Platformer
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Fast-Paced, Colorful, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 774 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $54k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Multiple EndingsFair17 devs · median $8.1k · 23 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair12 devs · median $7.6k · 14 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  4. + Time AttackFair12 devs · median $748 · 14 announced
  5. + IdlerFair19 devs · median $719 · 12 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair51 devs · median $598 · 62 announced
  7. + AutomationLong shot27 devs · median $300 · 32 announced
  8. + TransportationPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  9. + TrainsPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 11 announced
  10. + MilitaryPoor odds22 devs · median $43k · 46 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds20 devs · median $24k · 50 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds36 devs · median $19k · 111 announced

All 136 pairs on the Level Editor page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell 2016 · $922k Race The Sun 2013 · $592k I wanna be the Creator 2019 · $514k Neodash 2022 · $231k BIT.TRIP RERUNNER 2023 · $213k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell older $14.99 2,050 95% 62k $922k (exactly $921,885) Pine Studio
Race The Sun older $9.99 1,974 93% 59k $592k (exactly $591,608) Flippfly LLC
I wanna be the Creator older $5.99 2,860 94% 86k $514k (exactly $513,942) Aikesi
Neodash older $15.99 481 90% 14k $231k (exactly $230,736) Axan Gray
BIT.TRIP RERUNNER older $19.99 356 96% 11k $213k (exactly $213,493) Choice Provisions, Gamecraft Studios
Warstride Challenges older $19.99 242 89% 7.3k $145k (exactly $145,127) Dream Powered Games
Action Henk older $14.99 295 92% 8.9k $133k (exactly $132,662) RageSquid
Rocket Boots Mania $14.99 229 99% 6.9k $103k (exactly $102,981) Luma Play
Hell of an Office $14.99 121 89% 3.6k $54k (exactly $54,414) 43 Studios
Jelly Bubble $9.99 170 99% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) BINGOBELL
Sensory Overload $9.99 162 93% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,551) Pancake Studios
Nebula Flow $17.99 37 97% 1.1k $20k (exactly $19,969) After Nap Games
Under The Red Sky · EA $7.99 26 96% 780 $6.2k (exactly $6,232) Dedra Games, Federico Calchera
G-Switch 4: Creator $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Serius Games
GMH - Good Morning Human ! $9.99 4 100% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) W-9000 Studio
Run Pro $2.99 7 71% 210 $628 (exactly $628) Begma
Drop Jump $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) F4ntom Games

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