Games › City Builder › City Builder + JRPG
Should I ship a City Builder JRPG?
City Builder + JRPG
Only 6 developers shipped a City Builder 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, FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 10 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $540k against a market of $630. 10 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538k (exactly $537,671) |
| Top 25% | $1.3M (exactly $1,284,986) |
| Top 5% | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 10 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $19.99 |
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 82445% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- JRPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, JRPG
- Price point
- $19.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 36,873 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 10 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time 2025 · $21M 
Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom 2018 · $15M 
Yog-Sothoth’s Yard 2023 · $3.4M 
Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian 2025 · $1.3M 
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising 2022 · $933k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time | $59.99 | 11,771 91% | 353k | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
| | Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom | older | $59.99 | 8,100 82% | 243k | $15M (exactly $14,577,570) | LEVEL5 Inc. |
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
| | Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian | $59.99 | 714 89% | 21k | $1.3M (exactly $1,284,986) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising | older | $14.99 | 2,075 85% | 62k | $933k (exactly $933,128) | NatsumeAtari |
 | Actraiser Renaissance | older | $29.99 | 708 74% | 21k | $637k (exactly $636,988) | Square Enix, Sonic Powered |
 | 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. |
 | Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ | older | $59.99 | 236 77% | 7.1k | $425k (exactly $424,729) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Holy Road | older | $19.99 | 204 62% | 6.1k | $122k (exactly $122,339) | peperoncino |
 | Dungeon Explorers | $12.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) | C.M.Cas Games | |
 | cats diner | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | park personal | |
 | 我獨自升級英文(3) | $19.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | 愛上補習班 |
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.