Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat JRPG?

JRPG + Cats

Of 21 developers who shipped a Cat 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.. 27 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2215 the market median. Revenue is up 2465% on the market; 27 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 2465% on the market, 27 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $15k → $597 → $1.0k → $100k → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,985)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 44
Announced 27
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 2465% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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
JRPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,248 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

JRPG with a different setting or mood, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
TRIANGLE STRATEGY older $59.99 3,239 78% 97k $5.8M (exactly $5,829,228) Square Enix, ARTDINK
Epic Battle Fantasy 5 older $24.99 5,647 98% 169k $4.2M (exactly $4,233,556) Matt Roszak
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales $59.99 1,687 78% 51k $3.0M (exactly $3,036,094) Square Enix, Claytechworks
OFF $14.99 3,093 95% 93k $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922) Mortis Ghost, Fangamer
Epic Battle Fantasy 4 older $14.99 2,802 98% 84k $1.3M (exactly $1,260,059) Matt Roszak
SaGa Emerald Beyond older $49.99 308 72% 9.2k $462k (exactly $461,908) Square Enix
Bear's Restaurant older $12.99 649 94% 19k $253k (exactly $252,915) Odencat
Living together with Fox Demon older $9.99 754 80% 23k $226k (exactly $225,974) Silent Fox, BananaKing
铁道物语:陆王(Railway Saga:Land King) · EA older $9.99 394 78% 12k $118k (exactly $118,082) 風林火山工作室, 東木酋長
Cladun X3 $39.99 83 90% 2.5k $100k (exactly $99,575) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Maliki : Poison Of The Past $29.99 95 93% 2.9k $85k (exactly $85,472) Blue Banshee
Dungeons And Cat $9.99 193 88% 5.8k $58k (exactly $57,842) CatBellUnion
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
Totto's Magic Soup $9.99 12 100% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) アルネコデザイン
Besotted $14.99 6 66% 180 $2.7k (exactly $2,698) Body Code Games
PiMon $5.99 12 83% 360 $2.2k (exactly $2,156) HatCatGames
Nekopedia: Find Her Tail $2.99 17 100% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Hunny Bunny Studio

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