Do I ship it?

Games › Dating Sim › Dating Sim + LGBTQ+

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Dating Sim?

Dating Sim + LGBTQ+

Of 306 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ 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.. 367 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×60 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.5k. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 367 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 60.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 367 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dating Sim + LGBTQ+
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 306
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $18k → $11k → $6.9k → $9.9k → $10k → $4.0k (still earning) → $4.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dating Sim + LGBTQ+: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 306
Bottom 30% $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Median $7.2k (exactly $7,194)
Top 25% $44k (exactly $43,621)
Top 5% $358k (exactly $357,750)
Developers, 2 yr 306
Released games 1,359
Announced 367
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Dating Sim
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
LGBTQ+
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Dating Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Choices Matter, Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
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 93% positive over 75,947 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $7.2k, 1 in 4 over $43k, 1 in 20 over $350k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 8 in 10 of the 209 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 367 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + WarStrong odds8 devs · median $100k · 3 announced
  2. + FMVStrong odds148 devs · median $57k · 111 announced
  3. + Souls-likeStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  4. + AliensStrong odds20 devs · median $6.7k · 15 announced
  5. + PlatformerStrong odds19 devs · median $3.0k · 15 announced
  6. + HistoricalFair39 devs · median $27k · 44 announced
  7. + FPSFair47 devs · median $19k · 36 announced
  8. + Post-apocalypticFair29 devs · median $15k · 34 announced
  9. + Quick-Time EventsFair17 devs · median $15k · 16 announced
  10. + Immersive SimFair295 devs · median $13k · 296 announced
  11. + Action-AdventureFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  12. + TacticalFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced

All 142 pairs on the Dating Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

My Time at Sandrock 2023 · $29M Coral Island 2023 · $20M Fields of Mistria 2026 · $13M STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town 2020 · $6.3M Date Everything! 2025 · $6.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
My Time at Sandrock older $39.99 24,110 88% 723k $29M (exactly $28,924,767) Pathea Games
Coral Island older $29.99 21,828 89% 655k $20M (exactly $19,638,652) Stairway Games
Fields of Mistria $13.99 31,918 96% 958k $13M (exactly $13,395,985) NPC Studio
STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of Mineral Town older $39.99 5,268 93% 158k $6.3M (exactly $6,320,020) Marvelous Inc.
Date Everything! $29.99 6,629 93% 199k $6.0M (exactly $5,964,111) Sassy Chap Games
Potionomics older $24.99 6,973 90% 209k $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) Voracious Games
HuniePop 2: Double Date older $19.99 8,149 91% 244k $4.9M (exactly $4,886,955) HuniePot
Monster Prom older $11.99 12,245 93% 367k $4.4M (exactly $4,404,526) Beautiful Glitch
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist older $24.99 4,443 96% 133k $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) Northway Games
Road to Empress I $8.49 11,829 86% 355k $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) New One Studio
Sweet Home $7.99 9,910 94% 297k $2.4M (exactly $2,375,427) 开心茶房
FEMBOY FUTA HOUSE $14.99 4,131 89% 124k $1.9M (exactly $1,857,711) IT'S A TRAP
Tales of Seikyu $24.99 2,179 83% 65k $1.6M (exactly $1,633,596) ACE Entertainment
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate $14.00 3,275 95% 98k $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) Xso
Drag'n Wash $14.99 2,880 96% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,295,136) Gator Dragon Games
Monster Prom 4: Monster Con $14.99 1,892 98% 57k $851k (exactly $850,832) Beautiful Glitch
Sensei! I Like You So Much! $16.99 1,304 86% 39k $665k (exactly $664,649) LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network… (LaoO Studio (Shanghai Ou Ou Xi Network Technology Co. LTD）)

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