Games › JRPG › JRPG + Card Game
Should I ship a Card Game JRPG?
JRPG + Card Game
Of 27 developers who shipped a Card Game JRPG 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, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×16 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×551 the market median. Revenue is up 205% on the market; 56 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.2k (exactly $5,242) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,343) |
| Top 25% | $42k (exactly $42,085) |
| Top 5% | $346k (exactly $345,755) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 205% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- JRPG, Card Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Card Battler
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 6,245 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.3k. 6 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
JRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + NinjaFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + ManagementFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED 2019 · $2.9M 
FINAL FANTASY VIII 2013 · $2.8M 
SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION 2019 · $2.5M 
Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend 2022 · EA · $1.8M 
NEOVERSE 2020 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED | older | $19.99 | 4,822 75% | 145k | $2.9M (exactly $2,891,753) | Square Enix |
| | FINAL FANTASY VIII | older | $11.99 | 7,874 87% | 236k | $2.8M (exactly $2,832,278) | Square Enix |
| | SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION | older | $59.99 | 1,404 82% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) | Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.) |
| | Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend | · EA older | $29.99 | 2,036 92% | 61k | $1.8M (exactly $1,831,789) | Alioth Studio |
| | NEOVERSE | older | $19.99 | 2,882 84% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,728,335) | Tinogames Inc. |
 | Rebellion GODSOUL: Awakening | · EA | $17.99 | 2,458 85% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,326,583) | U-Secret Studio |
 | Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars | older | $29.99 | 1,277 80% | 38k | $1.1M (exactly $1,148,917) | Square Enix |
 | Yohane the Parhelion - NUMAZU in the MIRAGE - | older | $29.99 | 685 90% | 21k | $616k (exactly $616,294) | BeXide Inc. |
 | Succubus★Connect! | older | $24.99 | 637 78% | 19k | $478k (exactly $477,559) | capture1 |
 | ISEKAI QUEST | older | $3.99 | 3,679 85% | 110k | $440k (exactly $440,376) | Studio Ginkgo |
 | Witch's Apocalyptic Journey | $8.99 | 1,282 84% | 38k | $346k (exactly $345,755) | MeowAlive | |
 | Trainee Death Simulator | $5.99 | 1,746 92% | 52k | $314k (exactly $313,756) | Bone Nail | |
 | Lythia: Sigil of Lust | $24.99 | 109 75% | 3.3k | $82k (exactly $81,717) | capture 1 | |
 | The Girl's Moving Castle | $9.99 | 181 88% | 5.4k | $54k (exactly $54,246) | Destined game Studio | |
 | Project: AHNO's Ark | $12.99 | 120 92% | 3.6k | $47k (exactly $46,764) | PHOSEPO | |
 | Voice of Belldona | · EA | $11.99 | 117 72% | 3.5k | $42k (exactly $42,085) | StoryCropStudio |
 | Lords of Ravage | $9.99 | 138 66% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,359) | Synthetic Domain | |
 | Dark Sky | $19.99 | 53 66% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $31,784) | Ganymede Games | |
 | Echo Generation 2 | $24.99 | 41 73% | 1.2k | $31k (exactly $30,738) | Cococucumber |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.