Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › 3D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 3D Platformer?

3D Platformer

Of 2,193 developers who shipped a 3D 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.. 3,231 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 1,191 developers shipped in the last year and 3,231 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 3,231 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
3D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,193
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $598 → $535 → $570 → $479 → $597 → $390 (still earning) → $105 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 3D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,193
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $420 (exactly $420)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,120)
Top 5% $116k (exactly $116,204)
Developers, 2 yr 2,193
Released games 7,111
Announced 3,231
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 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

3D Platformer
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
3D Platformer
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 177,467 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $420, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 1,448 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 3,231 games are announced against 1,191 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with 3D Platformer

57 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. 3D Platformer + Military Dead $180 32 devs
  2. 3D Platformer + Science Dead $179 28 devs
  3. 3D Platformer + Detective Dead $150 33 devs
  4. 3D Platformer + Dinosaurs Dead $150 12 devs
  5. 3D Platformer + Aliens Dead $120 50 devs
  6. 3D Platformer + Artificial Intelligence Dead $90 45 devs
  7. 3D Platformer + Assassins Dead $60 14 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

It Takes Two 2021 · $262M Split Fiction 2025 · $118M Portal 2 2011 · $117M Human Fall Flat 2016 · $105M FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE 2022 · $52M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
It Takes Two older $39.99 218,492 95% 6.6M $262M (exactly $262,124,852) Hazelight Studios
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Portal 2 older $9.99 390,412 98% 12M $117M (exactly $117,006,476) Valve
Human Fall Flat older $19.99 174,835 94% 5.2M $105M (exactly $104,848,549) No Brakes Games
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE older $39.99 43,473 87% 1.3M $52M (exactly $52,154,558) Square Enix
Portal older $9.99 173,594 98% 5.2M $52M (exactly $52,026,122) Valve
A Hat in Time older $29.99 42,863 97% 1.3M $39M (exactly $38,563,841) Gears for Breakfast
Gorilla Tag older $19.99 52,637 93% 1.6M $32M (exactly $31,566,409) Another Axiom Inc.
Sonic Generations Collection older $51.79 20,304 93% 609k $32M (exactly $31,546,325) Devil's Details
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle $69.99 13,058 89% 392k $27M (exactly $27,417,883) MachineGames
LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight $69.99 8,728 95% 262k $18M (exactly $18,326,182) TT Games
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
Starsand Island $39.99 5,898 76% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) Seed Sparkle Lab
White Knuckle · EA $16.99 13,356 98% 401k $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) Dark Machine Games
ATLYSS · EA $9.99 19,244 96% 577k $5.8M (exactly $5,767,427) Kiseff
The Front $19.99 9,555 66% 287k $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) Samar Studio
South of Midnight $39.99 4,382 94% 131k $5.3M (exactly $5,257,085) Compulsion Games

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