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Should I ship a Dating Sim FMV?
FMV + Dating Sim
Of 148 developers who shipped a Dating Sim FMV 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.. 111 more are announced.
Verdict: strong odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $57k, ×119 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $10k. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 111 games are announced against 86 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.3 per shipper.
| Bottom 30% | $11k (exactly $10,653) |
|---|---|
| Median | $57k (exactly $56,643) |
| Top 25% | $153k (exactly $153,152) |
| Top 5% | $815k (exactly $814,884) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 148 |
| Released games | 277 |
| Announced | 111 |
| 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 up 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: <1%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- FMV
- 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
- FMV, Dating Sim; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Interactive Fiction, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.58 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Emotional, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.58 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 82,562 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $11k. 3 in 10 of the 81 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 111 games are announced against 86 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
FMV with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalStrong odds
- + Post-apocalypticStrong odds
- + StrategyStrong odds
- + Multiple EndingsStrong odds
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + Choices MatterStrong odds
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + RPGStrong odds
- + Life SimStrong odds
Comparable games
Love Is All Around 2023 · $11M 
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M 
Five Hearts Under One Roof 2024 · $3.5M 
Road to Empress I 2025 · $3.0M 
Peeping Dorm Manager 2023 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Love Is All Around | older | $9.99 | 36,203 93% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $10,850,039) | intiny |
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof | $19.99 | 5,881 91% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) | Storytaco | |
| | Road to Empress I | $8.49 | 11,829 86% | 355k | $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) | New One Studio | |
| | Peeping Dorm Manager | older | $10.99 | 6,206 92% | 186k | $2.0M (exactly $2,046,118) | HornyDoge |
 | Succubus Cafe | older | $29.99 | 2,260 89% | 68k | $2.0M (exactly $2,033,322) | MIGI STUDIO |
 | Knowledge, or know Lady | older | $6.99 | 8,501 95% | 255k | $1.8M (exactly $1,782,660) | 蒸汽满满工作室 |
 | The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth | $19.99 | 2,564 91% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,537,631) | 玛奇阿朵互娱科技, 山与海工作室 | |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | Love is All Around 2 | $9.99 | 3,749 83% | 112k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,575) | intiny | |
 | 美女，请别影响我成仙 | $10.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $1.0M (exactly $1,035,258) | 蒸汽满满工作室 | |
 | Rebooted Fate | $14.99 | 1,846 95% | 55k | $830k (exactly $830,146) | Jilin miaomiao, 山与海工作室 | |
 | SubZero | $9.99 | 2,719 92% | 82k | $815k (exactly $814,884) | Joy Media Limited |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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