Do I ship it?

Games › CRPG › CRPG + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management CRPG?

CRPG + Inventory Management

Of 29 developers who shipped an Inventory Management 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.. 57 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.1k, ×2.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×160 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 57 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 57 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
CRPG + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $1.5k → $118k → $1.5k → $4.1k (still earning) → $9.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for CRPG + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,243)
Top 5% $240k (exactly $240,220)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 57
Announced 57
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 down 50% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Inventory Management
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, Inventory Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Character Customization, Dungeon Crawler
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $25.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $25.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 15,043 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 $4.1k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Big Ambitions 2026 · $11M Mosaique Neko Waifus 3 2020 · $275k Expeditions: Samurai 2026 · EA · $240k Zombie Shooter 2009 · $136k A Hero's Rest: An RPG Town Simulator 2024 · $120k
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
Mosaique Neko Waifus 3 older $4.99 1,840 94% 55k $275k (exactly $275,448) Lil Hentai Games
Expeditions: Samurai · EA $29.99 267 59% 8.0k $240k (exactly $240,220) Campfire Cabal
Zombie Shooter older $4.99 911 82% 27k $136k (exactly $136,377) Sigma Team Inc.
A Hero's Rest: An RPG Town Simulator $24.99 160 67% 4.8k $120k (exactly $119,952) Vanargand Games
Tower of Mask $10.99 357 95% 11k $118k (exactly $117,703) Papertip Studio
Merchant of the Six Kingdoms older $14.99 221 91% 6.6k $99k (exactly $99,384) Cory Long
REAL ESTATE Simulator - FROM BUM TO MILLIONAIRE older $12.99 175 44% 5.3k $68k (exactly $68,198) Geekon
A Kobold Story : Trenchcoat Adventurer $19.99 72 95% 2.2k $43k (exactly $43,178) Crystal Spider Games
Legends of Amberland III: The Crimson Tower $19.99 53 98% 1.6k $32k (exactly $31,784) Silver Lemur Games
Enarian Online $14.99 48 83% 1.4k $22k (exactly $21,586) Enarian Online
The Chronicles of Lancelot 2 - The Adventure to Avalon $24.99 23 52% 690 $17k (exactly $17,243) Gayeti
The Traveller Tale $19.99 26 69% 780 $16k (exactly $15,592) Mystic Dream Studio's
Eye of the Commando · EA $14.99 34 100% 1.0k $15k (exactly $15,290) Adventurepro Games LLC

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