Do I ship it?

Games6DOF6DOF + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance 6DOF game?

6DOF + Romance

Only 13 developers shipped a Romance 6DOF game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, VR-Kanojo, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 8 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 8 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
6DOF + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.6k → $10k → $9.6k → $8.4k → $6.6k → $3.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for 6DOF + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,599)
Top 25% $9.6k (exactly $9,595)
Top 5% $290k (exactly $290,347)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 46
Announced 8
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $19.99

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 35% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

6DOF
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
6DOF; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dating Sim, Simulation, Interactive Fiction
Price point
$19.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, VR, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.

The top 10 games average 64% positive over 361 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $9.5k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 8 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

6DOF with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RoguelikeFair15 devs · median $4.7k · 7 announced
  2. + TacticalFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  3. + RobotsFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced
  4. + WarFair11 devs · median $1.8k · 10 announced
  5. + Dark FantasyFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair29 devs · median $958 · 39 announced
  7. + RhythmPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  8. + CyberpunkPoor odds8 devs · median $9.6k · 17 announced
  9. + MilitaryPoor odds10 devs · median $7.6k · 17 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds12 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds32 devs · median $3.6k · 69 announced
  12. + Immersive SimPoor odds48 devs · median $2.7k · 87 announced

All 90 pairs on the 6DOF page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
VR HOT · EA older $44.99 998 66% 30k $1.3M (exactly $1,347,001) VR HOT
VR Paradise - Steam Edition older $19.99 952 86% 29k $571k (exactly $570,914) Totem Entertainment
Spice&Wolf VR2 older $24.99 663 96% 20k $497k (exactly $497,051) SpicyTails
VR-Kanojo $54.99 176 63% 5.3k $290k (exactly $290,347) ILLUMINATION
Mirage · EA older $29.99 279 63% 8.4k $251k (exactly $251,016) MorganaVR
Sea Dogs older $11.99 162 75% 4.9k $58k (exactly $58,271) Akella
The Secret of Retropolis older $9.99 162 92% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,551) Peanut Button
Elvenfoundry $34.99 46 67% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) SunbathGames
JOI Lab VR 🔞 / 自慰ラボ $14.99 43 60% 1.3k $19k (exactly $19,337) Caulino
Fetish Club older $24.99 23 60% 690 $17k (exactly $17,243) SinVR
Hentai Dolls $19.99 20 80% 600 $12k (exactly $11,994) SinVR
Cyber Freeuse Fantasy $19.99 16 68% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) SinVR
Wall Town Wonders $19.99 14 78% 420 $8.4k (exactly $8,396) Cyborn B.V.
Fantasex Chronicles $19.99 11 90% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) SinVR
Virgin Simulator $4.99 30 36% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) Ilmir Nasertdinov
AI Games $59.99 2 50% 60 $3.6k (exactly $3,599) SUNYU Games
DiveInLoveVR $34.99 3 100% 90 $3.1k (exactly $3,149) LMTD

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