Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Animals

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 7.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 74 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Animals
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $599 → $76k → $240 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Animals: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
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.

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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Animals
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $4.7k, 1 in 4 over $47k, 1 in 20 over $410k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 74 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.