Games › Exploration › Exploration + Dating Sim
Should I ship an Exploration Dating Sim?
Exploration + Dating Sim
Of 181 developers who shipped an Exploration Dating Sim 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.. 295 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.7k, ×20 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2844 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 295 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.7k (exactly $9,712) |
| Top 25% | $65k (exactly $65,465) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,351,124) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 181 |
| Released games | 422 |
| Announced | 295 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 40% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than 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.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Dating Sim
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Dating Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 43,407 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 6 in 10 of the 104 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 295 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal 2023 · $114M 
Sun Haven 2023 · $17M 
Fate Seeker II 2021 · $7.7M 
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma 2025 · $5.3M 
TOGETHER BnB 2021 · EA · $4.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal | older | $19.99 | 190,184 56% | 5.7M | $114M (exactly $114,053,345) | 鬼谷工作室 |
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | Fate Seeker II | older | $22.60 | 11,360 88% | 341k | $7.7M (exactly $7,702,080) | JSL Entertainment |
| | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | $59.99 | 2,947 88% | 88k | $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) | Marvelous Inc. | |
| | TOGETHER BnB | · EA older | $17.99 | 9,025 59% | 271k | $4.9M (exactly $4,870,792) | AURORA Games |
 | AI＊Shoujo/AI＊少女 | older | $69.99 | 2,100 75% | 63k | $4.4M (exactly $4,409,370) | ILLUSION |
 | SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada | $39.99 | 3,303 40% | 99k | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) | Game Studio Inc. | |
 | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio | |
 | The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall | $11.99 | 8,227 58% | 247k | $3.0M (exactly $2,959,252) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) | |
 | Roots of Pacha | older | $24.99 | 3,779 93% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Soda Den |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Path of Kung Fu | $14.99 | 4,880 72% | 146k | $2.2M (exactly $2,194,536) | 游鲤化龙工作室 | |
 | Tales of Seikyu | $24.99 | 2,179 83% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,633,596) | ACE Entertainment | |
 | Matchmaking Inc. | $8.99 | 5,773 87% | 173k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,978) | Wave Games | |
 | Baby Steps | $19.99 | 2,355 90% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,294) | Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy | |
 | Aurelia | $19.99 | 2,253 94% | 68k | $1.4M (exactly $1,351,124) | MirthalGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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