Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Platformer?

Procedural Generation + Platformer

Of 151 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 212 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×384 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 212 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 212 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 151
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $2.4k → $987 → $599 → $718 → $1.5k → $359 (still earning) → $238 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 151
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $478 (exactly $478)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,876)
Top 5% $183k (exactly $182,578)
Developers, 2 yr 151
Released games 481
Announced 212
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 10% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Platformer
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
Procedural Generation, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, 2D Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Funny
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 94% positive over 322,989 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $480, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 82 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 212 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dead Cells 2018 · $117M PEAK 2025 · $72M Neon Abyss 2020 · $19M BlazBlue Entropy Effect 2024 · $18M Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead Cells older $24.99 156,263 97% 4.7M $117M (exactly $117,150,371) Motion Twin
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
BlazBlue Entropy Effect older $19.99 30,410 94% 912k $18M (exactly $18,236,877) 91Act
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Rogue Legacy 2 older $24.99 14,238 90% 427k $11M (exactly $10,674,229) Cellar Door Games
White Knuckle · EA $16.99 13,356 98% 401k $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) Dark Machine Games
Spelunky older $14.99 14,676 92% 440k $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) Mossmouth
Vagante older $14.99 4,118 90% 124k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,865) Nuke Nine
20XX older $14.99 3,979 91% 119k $1.8M (exactly $1,789,356) Batterystaple Games, Fire Hose Games
Neon Abyss 2 · EA $19.99 1,968 68% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) Veewo Games
Pratfall $7.99 2,797 90% 84k $670k (exactly $670,441) Quad Head
Mama's Sleeping Angels $9.99 1,040 93% 31k $312k (exactly $311,688) itamu
Katanaut $17.99 484 88% 15k $261k (exactly $261,215) Voidmaw
Tall Trails $9.99 691 99% 21k $207k (exactly $207,093) Brady Soglin
Poetry of Blood: Eclipse · EA $14.99 406 91% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) ZeroGameStudio
Aura of Worlds $14.99 101 96% 3.0k $45k (exactly $45,420) Cognitive Forge
Hellbrella $7.99 182 95% 5.5k $44k (exactly $43,625) Icy Mountain Studios

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