Games › Simulation › Simulation + Platformer
Should I ship a Platformer Simulation game?
Simulation + Platformer
Of 281 developers who shipped a Platformer Simulation game 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.. 235 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 235 games are announced against 146 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $178 (exactly $178) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $4.6k (exactly $4,649) |
| Top 5% | $59k (exactly $58,773) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 281 |
| Released games | 838 |
| Announced | 235 |
| 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 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- 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
- Simulation, Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, 3D Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 32,631 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 179 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 235 games are announced against 146 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition 2020 · $42M 
Rain World 2017 · $35M 
Chained Together 2024 · $8.2M 
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin 2020 · $4.5M 
F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch 2021 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition | older | $29.99 | 47,176 94% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $42,444,247) | Thunder Lotus |
| | Rain World | older | $24.99 | 46,871 94% | 1.4M | $35M (exactly $35,139,189) | Videocult |
| | Chained Together | older | $4.99 | 54,747 89% | 1.6M | $8.2M (exactly $8,195,626) | Anegar Games, Lab42 |
| | Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin | older | $29.99 | 5,004 92% | 150k | $4.5M (exactly $4,502,099) | Edelweiss |
| | F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch | older | $15.99 | 6,660 86% | 200k | $3.2M (exactly $3,194,802) | TiGames |
 | Shelldiver | $4.99 | 16,806 98% | 504k | $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) | Gagonfe | |
 | Doloc Town | $19.99 | 3,166 94% | 95k | $1.9M (exactly $1,898,650) | RedSaw Games Studio | |
 | Squirrel with a Gun | older | $19.99 | 3,112 86% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,866,266) | Dee Dee Creations LLC |
 | I Am Fish | older | $19.99 | 2,917 75% | 88k | $1.7M (exactly $1,749,325) | Bossa Studios |
 | 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) |
 | The Break-In | $19.99 | 2,040 87% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,223,388) | jorgen games Ltd, Oliver Josh | |
 | Yooka-Replaylee | $29.99 | 1,045 92% | 31k | $940k (exactly $940,186) | Playtonic Games | |
 | Goblin Vyke: The Thief Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,397 70% | 42k | $628k (exactly $628,231) | Art Thieves | |
 | Carry The Glass | $4.99 | 2,839 75% | 85k | $425k (exactly $424,998) | Çağatay Demir, Enes Kaplan | |
 | Egging On | $14.99 | 747 74% | 22k | $336k (exactly $335,926) | Egobounds | |
 | Light Up The Town | $14.99 | 715 95% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,536) | Meadow Studios | |
 | Idols of Ash | $2.99 | 3,352 97% | 101k | $301k (exactly $300,674) | Leafy Games | |
 | 3dSen PC | $14.99 | 524 91% | 16k | $236k (exactly $235,643) | Geod Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.