Do I ship it?

Games › JRPG › JRPG + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike JRPG?

JRPG + Action Roguelike

Of 23 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike JRPG 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.. 35 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×6.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $400k, ×647 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 35 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 35 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $72k → $6.7k → $94k → $2.4k → $106k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $1.9k (exactly $1,915)
Median $4.0k (exactly $3,957)
Top 25% $94k (exactly $93,605)
Top 5% $407k (exactly $406,597)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 62
Announced 35
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 flat on the market, supply 55% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

JRPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
JRPG, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Hack and Slash, Roguelite
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 2.5D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 5,502 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.0k, median $4.0k, 1 in 4 over $93k, 1 in 20 over $400k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

JRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds12 devs · median $54k · 6 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds43 devs · median $21k · 23 announced
  3. + NinjaFair7 devs · median $19k · 10 announced
  4. + RomanceFair153 devs · median $13k · 164 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair219 devs · median $13k · 265 announced
  6. + ManagementFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  9. + LootFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair25 devs · median $4.0k · 21 announced

All 142 pairs on the JRPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cuisineer 2023 · $1.4M Little Noah: Scion of Paradise 2022 · $977k Zengeon 2019 · $737k Endless Alice 2025 · EA · $622k Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai 2023 · $558k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cuisineer older $24.99 1,820 76% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,454) BattleBrew Productions
Little Noah: Scion of Paradise older $14.99 2,172 92% 65k $977k (exactly $976,748) Cygames, Inc., Grounding Inc.
Zengeon older $19.99 1,229 66% 37k $737k (exactly $737,031) IndieLeague Studio
Endless Alice · EA $8.99 2,307 91% 69k $622k (exactly $622,198) HowlingRain, 台灣響雨互娛, 響雨@OSAKA
Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai older $59.99 310 46% 9.3k $558k (exactly $557,907) Square Enix, GameStudio Inc., KAI GRAPH… (Square Enix, GameStudio Inc., KAI GRAPHICS INC.)
Ruins Seeker older $19.99 696 92% 21k $417k (exactly $417,391) Nupuryu no sato
Nigate Tale $19.99 678 67% 20k $407k (exactly $406,597) Hermit Games, 2P Games
Tunnel Escape older $19.99 407 77% 12k $244k (exactly $244,078) Elzee
Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade $13.99 503 59% 15k $211k (exactly $211,109) 7QUARK
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Demon Hand $9.99 375 84% 11k $112k (exactly $112,388) Tora Creatives
Utawarerumono: ZAN 2 $39.99 88 82% 2.6k $106k (exactly $105,574) AQUAPLUS
The Rangers In The South $3.99 782 81% 23k $94k (exactly $93,605) DPA Studios
CyberPimp 2069 $17.99 118 87% 3.5k $64k (exactly $63,685) Entropy Digital Entertainment
Deadrock Redemption 2 $14.99 123 86% 3.7k $55k (exactly $55,313) Entropy Digital Entertainment
DUNGEON RAZE $2.99 458 85% 14k $41k (exactly $41,083) KOTARO YOSHIDA
Gods Wars : infinity Epic $9.99 70 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $20,979) YCGame

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