Games › Swordplay › Swordplay + Platformer
Should I ship a Platformer Swordplay game?
Swordplay + Platformer
Of 35 developers who shipped a Platformer Swordplay 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.. 99 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $530k, ×858 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 99 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,880) |
| Top 5% | $539k (exactly $538,531) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 126 |
| Announced | 99 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Swordplay
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Swordplay, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, 2D Platformer
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 2,545 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Swordplay with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpLong shot
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + FightingPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
Nidhogg 2014 · $1.7M 
Bloodthief 2025 · $610k 
Shady Knight 2024 · $539k 
Nidhogg 2 2017 · $462k | 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 |
| | Nidhogg | older | $9.99 | 5,717 90% | 172k | $1.7M (exactly $1,713,385) | Messhof |
| | Bloodthief | $19.99 | 1,017 95% | 31k | $610k (exactly $609,895) | Blargis | |
| | Shady Knight | $19.99 | 898 93% | 27k | $539k (exactly $538,531) | Alexey 'cptnsigh' | |
| | Nidhogg 2 | older | $14.99 | 1,027 82% | 31k | $462k (exactly $461,842) | Messhof |
 | Vernal Edge | older | $16.99 | 532 74% | 16k | $271k (exactly $271,160) | Hello Penguin Team LLC |
 | Panzer Paladin | older | $19.99 | 334 76% | 10k | $200k (exactly $200,300) | Tribute Games Inc. |
 | Unto The End | older | $14.99 | 385 73% | 12k | $173k (exactly $173,134) | 2 Ton Studios |
 | Ato | older | $14.99 | 339 97% | 10k | $152k (exactly $152,448) | Tiny Warrior Games |
 | Armed with Wings: Rearmed | older | $9.99 | 406 87% | 12k | $122k (exactly $121,678) | Sun-Studios |
 | GIGASWORD | $14.99 | 108 75% | 3.2k | $49k (exactly $48,568) | Studio Hybrid | |
 | Lia: Hacking Destiny | $14.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $41k (exactly $41,372) | Orube Game Studio | |
 | Adventure of Samsara | $19.99 | 66 89% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $39,580) | Ilex Games | |
 | Beholgar 2 | $11.99 | 77 80% | 2.3k | $28k (exactly $27,697) | Serkan Bakar | |
 | Sacre Bleu | $14.99 | 46 82% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $20,686) | Hildring Studio Inc | |
 | Janosik 2 | $8.99 | 70 95% | 2.1k | $19k (exactly $18,879) | Onix Games | |
 | 宗门最后的长老 | $2.99 | 99 96% | 3.0k | $8.9k (exactly $8,880) | KUMA studio | |
 | Vindilis | $2.99 | 72 93% | 2.2k | $6.5k (exactly $6,458) | François Mauxion |
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.