Do I ship it?

GamesCRPGCRPG + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led CRPG?

CRPG + Female Protagonist

Of 84 developers who shipped a Female-Led CRPG 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.. 95 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $540. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 95 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 95 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
CRPG + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 84
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.8k → $1.6k → $8.2k → $1.5k → $2.1k → $1.0k → $1.1k (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for CRPG + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 84
Bottom 30% $538 (exactly $538)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,376)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $26,673)
Top 5% $259k (exactly $258,941)
Developers, 2 yr 84
Released games 298
Announced 95
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 15% on the market, supply 65% more 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

CRPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
CRPG; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Visual Novel
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, Emotional
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 17,378 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

CRPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Martial ArtsFair13 devs · median $26k · 14 announced
  2. + TabletopFair22 devs · median $1.9k · 26 announced
  3. + Traditional RoguelikeFair12 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  4. + 2D PlatformerFair62 devs · median $1.2k · 76 announced
  5. + IncrementalLong shot32 devs · median $449 · 27 announced
  6. + FMVPoor odds16 devs · median $58k · 14 announced
  7. + Card BattlerPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 28 announced
  8. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds26 devs · median $23k · 46 announced
  9. + SpacePoor odds11 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds13 devs · median $22k · 23 announced
  11. + Souls-likePoor odds12 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  12. + DeckbuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $19k · 27 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
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition older $44.99 180,782 95% 5.4M $244M (exactly $244,001,465) Larian Studios
Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition older $19.99 28,146 77% 844k $17M (exactly $16,879,156) Owlcat Games
Sword and Fairy 7 older $29.99 15,567 72% 467k $14M (exactly $14,005,630) 软星科技(SoftStarlight)
Tyranny older $29.99 9,877 87% 296k $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) Obsidian Entertainment
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire older $19.99 14,659 87% 440k $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) Obsidian Entertainment
TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children older $24.99 9,464 93% 284k $7.1M (exactly $7,095,161) Dandylion
Expeditions: Rome older $44.99 5,156 86% 155k $7.0M (exactly $6,959,053) Logic Artists
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition older $19.99 7,859 90% 236k $4.7M (exactly $4,713,042) Beamdog
Shadowrun Returns older $14.99 9,521 88% 286k $4.3M (exactly $4,281,594) Harebrained Schemes
ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies $39.99 2,911 83% 87k $3.5M (exactly $3,492,327) ZA/UM
Romantic Escapades $19.99 5,587 94% 168k $3.4M (exactly $3,350,524) 蠑螈
GreedFall: The Dying World $49.99 1,027 61% 31k $1.5M (exactly $1,540,192) Spiders
Labyrinth of Touhou Tri -The Dreaming Girls & The Mysterious Orbs- $19.99 616 82% 18k $369k (exactly $369,415) Nise-Eikoku Studio
我的恋爱逃生攻略 Love to Live $9.99 864 85% 26k $259k (exactly $258,941) 番茄炖肉制作组
Your Mom $1.99 4,157 95% 125k $248k (exactly $248,173) Mom Game
All in Abyss: Judge the Fake $15.99 375 54% 11k $180k (exactly $179,888) ACQUIRE Corp., WSS playground
Only You $6.99 719 94% 22k $151k (exactly $150,774) 忘雪社
暴杀残雨之夜 $6.00 779 98% 23k $140k (exactly $140,220) 茶斩刀制作组
Latex & Tentacles $10.99 343 67% 10k $113k (exactly $113,087) ZXC, GODNASK

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