Games › Building › Building + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Building Visual Novel?
Building + Visual Novel
Only 14 developers shipped a Building Visual Novel 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, The Succession of Changing Kings, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×7.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×232 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 22 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,175) |
| Top 5% | $146k (exactly $145,954) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 90% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,309 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
| | Seed of the Dead: Sweet Home | older | $29.99 | 3,006 83% | 90k | $2.7M (exactly $2,704,498) | TeamKRAMA |
| | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
| | Ravager | · EA older | $19.99 | 909 93% | 27k | $545k (exactly $545,127) | 4MinuteWarning |
| | The Succession of Changing Kings | $9.99 | 487 86% | 15k | $146k (exactly $145,954) | KwaKwaGames | |
| | Midori no Kaori | $9.99 | 464 94% | 14k | $139k (exactly $139,061) | TheLaba | |
| | Horny Warp: Hentai Fantasy | older | $6.99 | 654 92% | 20k | $137k (exactly $137,144) | LuminatiGames |
| | Tristia:legacy | older | $59.99 | 69 89% | 2.1k | $124k (exactly $124,179) | KOGADO STUDIO |
| | HAREM!RANCH LIFE | older | $17.99 | 208 70% | 6.2k | $112k (exactly $112,258) | GNT BOKUJO |
| | How a Retired Strategist Saved the Country | older | $13.99 | 246 90% | 7.4k | $103k (exactly $103,246) | tomadan |
| | Heroic Songs: the Remix! | $16.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $29k (exactly $28,543) | Emma Create | |
| | Saviour of the Wasteland | $9.99 | 84 78% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $25,175) | PTGames | |
| | Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project | $9.99 | 79 83% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | Kinky Business Group | |
| | Grooveyard | $4.99 | 35 100% | 1.1k | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) | GuavaGoose Games | |
| | Market Simulator | $4.99 | 33 75% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | KOZGAMES | |
| | Ages of Cataria | · EA | $9.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | Third Pie Studios |
| | 双雄风流传(Romantic Emperor) | $2.18 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $3.5k (exactly $3,466) | Turtle game | |
| | Veilscripture AI | $39.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | Lanternwake |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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