Do I ship it?

GamesMoodsCartoon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cartoon game?

Cartoon

Of 2,057 developers who shipped a Cartoon 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.. 2,829 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×280 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 2,829 games are announced against 1,146 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 2,829 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Cartoon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,057
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $776 → $1.5k → $1.1k → $1.0k → $772 → $1.2k → $599 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Cartoon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,057
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $6.3k (exactly $6,294)
Top 5% $133k (exactly $133,067)
Developers, 2 yr 2,057
Released games 6,520
Announced 2,829
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 45% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Cartoon
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 221,366 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $720, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 1,292 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,829 games are announced against 1,146 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Cartoon

0 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any

No pair with Cartoon has 25 games yet.

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cuphead older $19.99 198,790 96% 6.0M $119M (exactly $119,214,363) Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc.
South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ older $29.99 60,770 97% 1.8M $55M (exactly $54,674,769) Obsidian Entertainment
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition older $29.99 45,480 90% 1.4M $41M (exactly $40,918,356) PopCap
SPORE™ older $19.99 66,871 92% 2.0M $40M (exactly $40,102,539) Maxis™
The First Berserker: Khazan $59.99 21,049 85% 631k $38M (exactly $37,881,885) Neople
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles older $59.99 16,545 87% 496k $30M (exactly $29,776,036) CyberConnect2
South Park™: The Fractured But Whole™ older $29.99 31,985 85% 960k $29M (exactly $28,776,904) Ubisoft San Francisco
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds $69.99 11,479 93% 344k $24M (exactly $24,102,456) Sonic Team
Torchlight II older $19.99 33,094 92% 993k $20M (exactly $19,846,472) Runic Games
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire $29.99 14,604 93% 438k $13M (exactly $13,139,219) Fumi Games
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Starsand Island $39.99 5,898 76% 177k $7.1M (exactly $7,075,831) Seed Sparkle Lab
Lost Castle 2 $17.99 10,851 78% 326k $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) Hunter Studio
Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted $19.99 6,898 66% 207k $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels
Rift of the NecroDancer $19.99 5,844 93% 175k $3.5M (exactly $3,504,647) Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios I… (Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Studios Inc.)
SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance $29.99 3,564 83% 107k $3.2M (exactly $3,206,531) SEGA, Lizardcube

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