Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Visual Novel
Of 146 developers who shipped a Visual Novel Action-Adventure 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.. 197 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×4.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×253 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 197 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,240) |
| Top 5% | $159k (exactly $158,744) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 146 |
| Released games | 442 |
| Announced | 197 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure, Visual Novel; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 15,491 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 197 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023 · $5.8M 
UNBEATABLE 2025 · $5.5M 
Threefold Recital 2025 · $2.3M 
New Tales from the Borderlands 2022 · $2.1M 
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus 2024 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective | older | $29.99 | 6,429 97% | 193k | $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | UNBEATABLE | $27.99 | 6,552 92% | 197k | $5.5M (exactly $5,501,714) | D-CELL GAMES | |
| | Threefold Recital | $14.99 | 5,117 98% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,115) | Everscape Games | |
| | New Tales from the Borderlands | older | $39.99 | 1,737 29% | 52k | $2.1M (exactly $2,083,879) | Gearbox Software |
| | Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus | older | $29.99 | 2,142 80% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,927,157) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | Beacon Pines | older | $19.99 | 3,054 97% | 92k | $1.8M (exactly $1,831,484) | Hiding Spot |
 | Ys X: Nordics | $59.99 | 890 76% | 27k | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
 | We. The Revolution | older | $19.99 | 1,997 73% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,197,601) | Polyslash |
 | SAMURAI MAIDEN | older | $59.99 | 648 60% | 19k | $1.2M (exactly $1,166,206) | SHADE Inc. |
 | SHUTEN ORDER | $49.99 | 712 80% | 21k | $1.1M (exactly $1,067,786) | Neilo Inc. | |
 | KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE | $34.99 | 494 93% | 15k | $519k (exactly $518,552) | KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO, orange | |
 | Ys X: Proud Nordics | $69.99 | 168 75% | 5.0k | $353k (exactly $352,750) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Deer & Boy | $19.99 | 370 94% | 11k | $222k (exactly $221,889) | Lifeline Games | |
 | Harem in Another World | $14.99 | 431 94% | 13k | $194k (exactly $193,821) | Jong Games | |
 | The Coma 3: Bloodlines | $14.99 | 353 86% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | Dvora Studio Co., Ltd. | |
 | Starlight Revolver | · EA | $12.99 | 404 54% | 12k | $157k (exactly $157,439) | Pahdo Labs |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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