Games › Metroidvania › Metroidvania + Space
Should I ship a Space Metroidvania?
Metroidvania + Space
Of 30 developers who shipped a Space Metroidvania 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.. 91 more are announced, ×7.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×194 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 91 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) |
| Top 25% | $40k (exactly $39,580) |
| Top 5% | $122k (exactly $121,869) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 110 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Metroidvania; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Platformer
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,979 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Metroidvania with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ParkourPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + VampiresPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
Comparable games
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
The Gunk 2022 · $3.6M 
Revenge of the Savage Planet 2025 · $2.6M 
The Swapper 2013 · $2.3M 
Out There Somewhere 2016 · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | The Gunk | older | $24.99 | 4,744 86% | 142k | $3.6M (exactly $3,556,577) | Image & Form Games |
| | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
| | The Swapper | older | $14.99 | 5,065 93% | 152k | $2.3M (exactly $2,277,730) | Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert,… (Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert, Carlo Castellano) |
| | Out There Somewhere | older | $9.99 | 6,160 92% | 185k | $1.8M (exactly $1,846,152) | MiniBoss |
 | VVVVVV | older | $4.99 | 6,657 96% | 200k | $997k (exactly $996,553) | Terry Cavanagh |
 | Headlander | older | $19.99 | 614 90% | 18k | $368k (exactly $368,216) | Double Fine Productions |
 | Environmental Station Alpha | older | $7.99 | 1,506 81% | 45k | $361k (exactly $360,988) | Arvi Teikari, Roope Mäkinen |
 | The Mobius Machine | older | $19.99 | 442 82% | 13k | $265k (exactly $265,067) | Madruga Works |
 | Xeodrifter | older | $9.99 | 738 75% | 22k | $221k (exactly $221,179) | Atooi |
 | Somber Echoes | $14.99 | 271 81% | 8.1k | $122k (exactly $121,869) | Rock Pocket Games, Lav Games | |
 | Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening | $24.99 | 119 77% | 3.6k | $89k (exactly $89,214) | Magic Pockets | |
 | Goodboy Galaxy | $24.99 | 110 95% | 3.3k | $82k (exactly $82,467) | Goodboy Galaxy Ltd. | |
 | ROLLING STAR | $11.99 | 216 96% | 6.5k | $78k (exactly $77,695) | NUL2 STUDIO | |
 | Derelict Star | $9.99 | 155 94% | 4.7k | $46k (exactly $46,454) | gate | |
 | Stardust Demon | $19.99 | 77 83% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $46,177) | resnijars | |
 | Adventure of Samsara | $19.99 | 66 89% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $39,580) | Ilex Games | |
 | Quantum Void | $11.99 | 69 95% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $24,819) | TacNours | |
 | Space Sprouts | $10.99 | 51 96% | 1.5k | $17k (exactly $16,815) | Schleuder Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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