Do I ship it?

GamesCRPGCRPG + Economy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Economy CRPG?

CRPG + Economy

Only 14 developers shipped an Economy CRPG 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, Big Ambitions, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.8k, ×4.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×7288 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 150% on the market, 25 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
CRPG + Economy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for CRPG + Economy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $6.8k (exactly $6,834)
Top 25% $120k (exactly $119,952)
Top 5% $11M (exactly $10,918,139)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 33
Announced 25
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 150% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

CRPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
CRPG, Economy
Price point
$11.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 15,147 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $6.8k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

CRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $26k · 14 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair84 devs · median $2.4k · 95 announced
  3. + TabletopFair22 devs · median $1.9k · 26 announced
  4. + Traditional RoguelikeFair12 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  5. + 2D PlatformerFair62 devs · median $1.2k · 76 announced
  6. + IncrementalLong shot32 devs · median $449 · 27 announced
  7. + FMVPoor odds16 devs · median $58k · 14 announced
  8. + Card BattlerPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 28 announced
  9. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds26 devs · median $23k · 46 announced
  10. + SpacePoor odds11 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds13 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  12. + Souls-likePoor odds12 devs · median $20k · 24 announced

All 123 pairs on the CRPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Big Ambitions $25.99 14,003 92% 420k $11M (exactly $10,918,139) Hovgaard Games
Dungeon Alchemist · EA older $44.99 2,666 94% 80k $3.6M (exactly $3,598,300) Briganti
Immortal Life older $16.99 3,853 79% 116k $2.0M (exactly $1,963,874) YiFang Studio
Raiders! Forsaken Earth older $19.99 268 80% 8.0k $161k (exactly $160,720) Creative Storm Entertainment
Creator Chronicles $11.99 424 64% 13k $153k (exactly $152,513) Origin Studio
Monarch : Medieval Remastered $11.99 365 80% 11k $131k (exactly $131,290) Mr.Lordy
A Hero's Rest: An RPG Town Simulator $24.99 160 67% 4.8k $120k (exactly $119,952) Vanargand Games
Merchant of the Six Kingdoms older $14.99 221 91% 6.6k $99k (exactly $99,384) Cory Long
Music Band Manager older $7.99 339 52% 10k $81k (exactly $81,258) Hamsters Gaming
Hotel Business Simulator older $12.99 191 46% 5.7k $74k (exactly $74,433) Geekon
PuPu's Adventure Park $14.99 130 64% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,461) 西梅树工作室
Holonoptic $19.95 16 93% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,576) Glazial
Station Master RPG · EA $11.99 19 78% 570 $6.8k (exactly $6,834) Telegraph Studios
Bratki $5.99 11 72% 330 $2.0k (exactly $1,977) VZLab
Card Streamer Simulator $2.99 17 52% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Scissors Game
The Farming Frontier $9.99 2 100% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Cuneyt Aliustaoglu

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