Do I ship it?

Games › JRPG › JRPG + Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building JRPG?

JRPG + Building

Only 10 developers shipped a Building JRPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $89k, ×141 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $42k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.3M, ×8445 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 141.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 20 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for JRPG + Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $41k (exactly $41,359)
Median $89k (exactly $88,689)
Top 25% $538k (exactly $537,671)
Top 5% $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 34
Announced 20
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $18.99

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 55% on the market, supply 50% 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.

JRPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Building
Price point
$18.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 9,782 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $42k, median $89k, 1 in 4 over $530k, 1 in 20 over $5.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $42k. 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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

DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™ 2 2019 · $10M Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma 2025 · $5.3M OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 2025 · $4.3M HARVESTELLA 2022 · $3.7M Yog-Sothoth’s Yard 2023 · $3.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™ 2 older $49.99 6,888 92% 207k $10M (exactly $10,329,934) Square Enix, KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $59.99 2,947 88% 88k $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) Marvelous Inc.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 $49.99 2,873 78% 86k $4.3M (exactly $4,308,638) Square Enix, DOKIDOKI GROOVE WORKS
HARVESTELLA older $59.99 2,071 77% 62k $3.7M (exactly $3,727,179) Square Enix
Yog-Sothoth’s Yard older $10.99 10,207 93% 306k $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) Bone Nail
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising older $14.99 2,075 85% 62k $933k (exactly $933,128) NatsumeAtari
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS older $27.99 715 90% 21k $600k (exactly $600,386) Square Enix
SunnySide older $19.99 913 67% 27k $548k (exactly $547,526) Aftabi Games
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles older $49.99 294 52% 8.8k $441k (exactly $440,912) ZOC Co.,Ltd.
One Lonely Outpost $19.99 540 58% 16k $324k (exactly $323,838) indie.io
Syn-Chorus 01: The New Life · EA $10.99 269 83% 8.1k $89k (exactly $88,689) PrisMaze棱镜迷阵
Whimsy Bake＆Craft $7.99 357 64% 11k $86k (exactly $85,573) MOON SCAPE
Lords of Ravage $9.99 138 66% 4.1k $41k (exactly $41,359) Synthetic Domain
KAMiBAKO - Mythology of Cube - $29.99 37 64% 1.1k $33k (exactly $33,289) GRAVITY GAME ARISE
Monster Alchemy · EA $18.99 56 91% 1.7k $32k (exactly $31,903) Team Metacarpo
Arsica: Echoes of Ars $10.99 1 100% 30 $330 (exactly $330) Lignacia Production

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