Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Aliens
Of 42 developers who shipped an Alien Visual Novel 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.6k, ×5.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×243 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 56 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $115k (exactly $115,454) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 117 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Dating Sim
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 2,763 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
1000xRESIST 2024 · $3.2M 
Projekt: Passion - Season 1 2023 · $1.3M 
The Symbiant 2023 · $471k 
Lightracer Spark 2023 · $378k 
Projekt: Passion - Season 2 2025 · $361k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 1000xRESIST | older | $19.99 | 5,310 96% | 159k | $3.2M (exactly $3,184,407) | sunset visitor 斜陽過客 |
| | Projekt: Passion - Season 1 | older | $11.99 | 3,501 92% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,310) | Classy Lemon |
| | The Symbiant | older | $19.99 | 785 95% | 24k | $471k (exactly $470,764) | HeartCoreDev |
| | Lightracer Spark | older | $12.99 | 970 83% | 29k | $378k (exactly $378,009) | Smartmelon Games |
| | Projekt: Passion - Season 2 | $11.99 | 1,005 93% | 30k | $361k (exactly $361,498) | Classy Lemon | |
 | Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse Remastered | older | $39.99 | 250 94% | 7.5k | $300k (exactly $299,925) | aNCHOR Inc., fuzz, Inc. |
 | Black & White | older | $14.99 | 612 71% | 18k | $275k (exactly $275,216) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) |
 | Tales From The Unending Void: Season 1 | older | $14.99 | 427 88% | 13k | $192k (exactly $192,022) | Perverteer Games |
 | KANADE | $12.99 | 368 82% | 11k | $143k (exactly $143,410) | Frontwing | |
 | The Symbiant Re:Union | older | $14.99 | 270 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $121,419) | HeartCoreDev |
 | Galaxy Princess Zorana | $24.99 | 154 88% | 4.6k | $115k (exactly $115,454) | Hanako Games | |
 | Is the Vat Utopia or Dystopia? | $2.99 | 791 97% | 24k | $71k (exactly $70,953) | Night Cruising 夜间巡航 | |
 | Stellar Dream - Part 1 | $14.99 | 129 87% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Winterlook Games | |
 | Solo Breeding | $9.99 | 132 53% | 4.0k | $40k (exactly $39,560) | Whiteleaf Studio | |
 | Rhya's Crusade: The Aradia's Reavers | $14.99 | 39 66% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Black Fortress Games | |
 | 翎之歌 | $6.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸 | |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene | |
 | Love at The Milky Way Diner | · EA | $13.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $10k (exactly $10,492) | Lucky Kim, Emanuelle Heikens |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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