Should I ship an Animal RPG?
RPG + Animals
Of 24 developers who shipped an Animal RPG 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.. 74 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×653 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 74 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.7k (exactly $4,672) |
| Top 25% | $47k (exactly $47,426) |
| Top 5% | $410k (exactly $410,086) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 74 |
| 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 down 90% on the market, supply 400% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Life Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 13,195 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 74 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition | $29.99 | 11,511 97% | 345k | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) | eduweb | |
| | Bear and Breakfast | older | $19.99 | 4,574 89% | 137k | $2.7M (exactly $2,743,028) | Gummy Cat |
| | Ghost of a Tale | older | $19.99 | 4,214 91% | 126k | $2.5M (exactly $2,527,136) | SeithCG |
| | Meadow - A Shelter Game | older | $6.99 | 5,060 90% | 152k | $1.1M (exactly $1,061,082) | Might and Delight |
| | Cattails | Become a Cat! | older | $14.99 | 2,315 95% | 69k | $1.0M (exactly $1,041,056) | Falcon Development |
| | Cattails: Wildwood Story | older | $19.99 | 1,479 97% | 44k | $887k (exactly $886,956) | Falcon Development |
| | BROK the InvestiGator | older | $19.99 | 985 97% | 30k | $591k (exactly $590,704) | COWCAT |
| | Spirit of the Island | older | $14.99 | 1,191 69% | 36k | $536k (exactly $535,593) | 1M Bits Horde |
| | The Ranchers | · EA | $24.99 | 547 57% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | The Ranchers |
| | Dog Sled Saga | older | $7.99 | 659 94% | 20k | $158k (exactly $157,962) | Trichotomy |
| | Abra-Cooking-Dabra | $12.99 | 250 75% | 7.5k | $97k (exactly $97,425) | Door 407 | |
| | King of Bones | $7.99 | 316 85% | 9.5k | $76k (exactly $75,745) | Gluten Free Games | |
| | Heroes of the Seven Islands | $11.99 | 191 100% | 5.7k | $69k (exactly $68,703) | Rap2h | |
| | Nimbit Frontier | · EA | $13.99 | 113 97% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Megasploot |
| | Nekokami - The Human Restoration Project | $17.99 | 63 96% | 1.9k | $34k (exactly $34,001) | Rocket-in-Bottle | |
| | Wildkeepers Rising | $9.99 | 110 79% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,967) | Lioncode Games | |
| | Isekat: Crushed by a Computer, My Beloved Kitten is Transported to a Fantasy World where its Typing Skills Save the Kingdom! | $9.99 | 50 92% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,985) | InSpite | |
| | FROGGONIT | $9.99 | 44 100% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $13,187) | Fuz Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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