Do I ship it?

Games › Quick-Time Events › Quick-Time Events + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Platformer?

Quick-Time Events + Platformer

Of 60 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 53 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 34 developers shipped in the last year and 53 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 53 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Quick-Time Events + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 60
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $776 → $0 → $359 → $239 → $1.9k → $418 → $179 (still earning) → $135 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Quick-Time Events + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 60
Bottom 30% $105 (exactly $105)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $719 (exactly $719)
Top 5% $24k (exactly $23,653)
Developers, 2 yr 60
Released games 144
Announced 53
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.99

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 10% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Quick-Time Events
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
Quick-Time Events, Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, 2D Platformer
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 13,208 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $110, median $240, 1 in 4 over $710, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $110. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Quick-Time Events with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  2. + Shoot 'Em UpFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  3. + Life SimFair28 devs · median $958 · 33 announced
  4. + SimulationFair116 devs · median $748 · 133 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $720 · 18 announced
  6. + Resource ManagementFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  8. + AliensFair12 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  9. + SpaceFair16 devs · median $597 · 24 announced
  10. + Bullet TimeLong shot10 devs · median $390 · 15 announced
  11. + DemonsLong shot17 devs · median $300 · 22 announced
  12. + Bullet HellLong shot27 devs · median $239 · 25 announced

All 110 pairs on the Quick-Time Events page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tomb Raider Game of the Year 2013 · $104M SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS 2024 · $18M STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition 2009 · $5.2M PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC 2025 · $624k Frog Jump 2025 · $24k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tomb Raider Game of the Year older $19.99 173,270 95% 5.2M $104M (exactly $103,910,019) Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Nixxes)
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition older $19.99 8,732 77% 262k $5.2M (exactly $5,236,580) LucasArts
PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC $29.99 694 90% 21k $624k (exactly $624,392) NOW PRODUCTION Co., Ltd.
Frog Jump $4.99 158 86% 4.7k $24k (exactly $23,653) SlugShot Games
Dashy Square older $6.99 110 81% 3.3k $23k (exactly $23,067) Kastriot Sulejmani, Logan Gerrol
Angry Penguin older $1.99 328 92% 9.8k $20k (exactly $19,582) PAIN PEPPER
Doodle Adventure of Chameleon older $8.99 58 94% 1.7k $16k (exactly $15,643) Cube of Cube
Aerial_Knight's Never Yield older $4.99 102 79% 3.1k $15k (exactly $15,269) Aerial_Knight
The Shaman's Ark $9.99 47 97% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Amortiz Games
Nomyou $11.99 39 56% 1.2k $14k (exactly $14,028) Kudalyn's Creations
Inflafrog: Collector's Edition $4.99 28 100% 840 $4.2k (exactly $4,192) Nice Cream
Hate-Spam the VTuber: Keyboard Warrior Simulator! $3.99 33 84% 990 $4.0k (exactly $3,950) PUGELLAGAMES
Sombra $5.99 14 92% 420 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) SytoDev
Super Miaoyin $8.99 7 85% 210 $1.9k (exactly $1,888) Hou Xiaohou
JOTT : Jump Over The Time $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Gamezel

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