Games › Dating Sim › Dating Sim + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Dating Sim?
Dating Sim + Horror
Of 110 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 154 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.7k, ×18 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×1001 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 154 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,728) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.7k (exactly $8,683) |
| Top 25% | $56k (exactly $55,763) |
| Top 5% | $476k (exactly $475,624) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 110 |
| Released games | 382 |
| Announced | 154 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dating Sim
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Horror
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dating Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
- 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, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 14,111 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.8k. 6 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 154 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dating Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WarStrong odds
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Souls-likeStrong odds
- + AliensStrong odds
- + PlatformerStrong odds
- + HistoricalFair
- + FPSFair
- + Post-apocalypticFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + TacticalFair
Comparable games
Undertale 2015 · $92M 
Senren＊Banka 2020 · $35M 
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 2017 · $26M 
STEINS;GATE 2016 · $23M 
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair 2016 · $19M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Undertale | older | $9.99 | 307,601 96% | 9.2M | $92M (exactly $92,188,020) | tobyfox |
| | Senren＊Banka | older | $34.99 | 33,721 98% | 1.0M | $35M (exactly $35,396,934) | YUZUSOFT |
| | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | older | $39.99 | 21,978 82% | 659k | $26M (exactly $26,367,007) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | STEINS;GATE | older | $29.99 | 25,289 97% | 759k | $23M (exactly $22,752,513) | MAGES. Inc. |
| | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | older | $19.99 | 30,961 95% | 929k | $19M (exactly $18,567,312) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games) |
 | Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut | older | $17.99 | 31,885 96% | 957k | $17M (exactly $17,208,334) | Black Tabby Games |
 | 魔女的夜宴 | older | $34.99 | 9,664 98% | 290k | $10M (exactly $10,144,301) | YUZUSOFT |
 | Raging Loop | older | $29.99 | 10,568 95% | 317k | $9.5M (exactly $9,508,030) | KEMCO |
 | 港詭實錄ParanormalHK | older | $12.99 | 18,874 89% | 566k | $7.4M (exactly $7,355,198) | Ghostpie Studio |
 | Chinese Parents | older | $9.99 | 23,168 91% | 695k | $6.9M (exactly $6,943,450) | 墨鱼玩游戏 |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Baby Steps | $19.99 | 2,355 90% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,412,294) | Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy | |
 | Quickie: A Love Hotel Story | $19.99 | 2,081 95% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,247,976) | Oppai Games | |
 | Cabernet | $19.99 | 2,025 94% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) | Party for Introverts | |
 | STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT | $59.99 | 594 88% | 18k | $1.1M (exactly $1,069,022) | MAGES. Inc. | |
 | Anomalous Coffee Machine | $9.99 | 1,587 86% | 48k | $476k (exactly $475,624) | HoruBrain Interactive | |
 | Love Love Mystery Club | $19.99 | 612 97% | 18k | $367k (exactly $367,016) | LuminDrive | |
 | NEKOPARA After | $9.99 | 1,198 90% | 36k | $359k (exactly $359,041) | NEKO WORKs | |
 | Money for Girls: Amortized | $15.00 | 795 98% | 24k | $358k (exactly $357,750) | Porpentine | |
 | SAEKO: Giantess Dating Sim | $14.99 | 715 87% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,536) | SAFE HAVN STUDIO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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