Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Collectathon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon game?

Collectathon

Of 1,328 developers who shipped a Collectathon 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.. 1,909 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×445 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 1,909 games are announced against 809 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 1,909 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,328
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $1.8k → $2.1k → $1.2k → $1.4k → $1.3k → $836 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,328
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $9.0k (exactly $8,991)
Top 5% $212k (exactly $211,525)
Developers, 2 yr 1,328
Released games 3,593
Announced 1,909
Effort 4 / 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 35% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 193,935 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $8.9k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 793 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,909 games are announced against 809 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Collectathon

47 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Collectathon + Capitalism Strong odds $6.2k 76 devs
  2. Collectathon + Crime Fair $3.4k 10 devs
  3. Collectathon + Artificial Intelligence Fair $2.7k 46 devs
  4. Collectathon + Mythology Fair $2.4k 18 devs
  5. Collectathon + Underwater Fair $2.3k 37 devs
  6. Collectathon + Modern Fair $2.2k 22 devs
  7. Collectathon + Noir Fair $1.8k 10 devs
  8. Collectathon + Dinosaurs Fair $1.5k 11 devs
  9. Collectathon + Dark Fantasy Fair $1.2k 45 devs
  10. Collectathon + Underground Fair $1.0k 27 devs
  11. Collectathon + Demons Fair $748 30 devs
  12. Collectathon + Horror Fair $718 113 devs
  13. Collectathon + Space Fair $599 62 devs
  14. Collectathon + Snow Long shot $299 14 devs
  15. Collectathon + Farming Poor odds $13k 17 devs
  16. Collectathon + Robots Poor odds $9.0k 23 devs
  17. Collectathon + Dragons Poor odds $5.0k 16 devs
  18. Collectathon + Science Poor odds $4.6k 21 devs
  19. Collectathon + Music Poor odds $3.1k 15 devs
  20. Collectathon + Alternate History Poor odds $2.6k 8 devs
  21. Collectathon + Female Protagonist Poor odds $1.9k 139 devs
  22. Collectathon + Magic Poor odds $1.6k 86 devs
  23. Collectathon + Nature Poor odds $1.5k 192 devs
  24. Collectathon + Cats Poor odds $1.5k 105 devs
  25. Collectathon + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $1.5k 36 devs
  26. Collectathon + Historical Poor odds $1.3k 25 devs
  27. Collectathon + Romance Poor odds $1.2k 30 devs
  28. Collectathon + LGBTQ+ Poor odds $1.2k 27 devs
  29. Collectathon + Medieval Poor odds $1.2k 50 devs
  30. Collectathon + Animals Poor odds $1.1k 36 devs
  31. Collectathon + Fantasy Poor odds $899 255 devs
  32. Collectathon + Cyberpunk Poor odds $899 22 devs
  33. Collectathon + Dogs Poor odds $899 22 devs
  34. Collectathon + Zombies Poor odds $719 29 devs
  35. Collectathon + Psychological Horror Poor odds $718 63 devs
  36. Collectathon + Sci-fi Poor odds $599 101 devs
  37. Collectathon + Mystery Poor odds $599 80 devs
  38. Collectathon + Futuristic Poor odds $449 46 devs
  39. Collectathon + Dystopian Poor odds $299 21 devs
  40. Collectathon + Ninja Dead $921 7 devs
  41. Collectathon + Thriller Dead $449 24 devs
  42. Collectathon + Aliens Dead $390 30 devs
  43. Collectathon + Detective Dead $359 25 devs
  44. Collectathon + Supernatural Dead $269 34 devs
  45. Collectathon + Psychological Dead $239 18 devs
  46. Collectathon + Gothic Dead $210 13 devs
  47. Collectathon + Heist Dead $0 5 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Temtem 2022 · $42M A Hat in Time 2017 · $39M Digimon Story Time Stranger 2025 · $33M TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road 2025 · $23M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Temtem older $44.99 31,263 82% 938k $42M (exactly $42,195,671) Crema
A Hat in Time older $29.99 42,863 97% 1.3M $39M (exactly $38,563,841) Gears for Breakfast
Digimon Story Time Stranger $69.99 15,845 89% 475k $33M (exactly $33,269,746) Media.Vision Inc.
TCG Card Shop Simulator $19.99 47,357 96% 1.4M $28M (exactly $28,399,993) OPNeon Games
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road $69.99 11,180 88% 335k $23M (exactly $23,474,646) LEVEL5 Inc.
Spyro™ Reignited Trilogy older $39.99 14,211 92% 426k $17M (exactly $17,048,937) Toys for Bob, Iron Galaxy Studios
Cookie Clicker older $4.99 87,916 96% 2.6M $13M (exactly $13,161,025) Orteil, DashNet
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated older $29.99 14,439 94% 433k $13M (exactly $12,990,768) Purple Lamp
Travellers Rest · EA older $17.99 16,538 87% 496k $8.9M (exactly $8,925,559) Isolated Games
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land $69.99 2,534 64% 76k $5.3M (exactly $5,320,640) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Elin · EA $19.99 8,406 93% 252k $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) Lafrontier
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
Tiny Bookshop $19.99 6,967 96% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) neoludic games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
Star Birds · EA $19.99 2,990 92% 90k $1.8M (exactly $1,793,103) Toukana Interactive

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