Games › Dating Sim › Dating Sim + Mechs
Should I ship a Mech Dating Sim?
Dating Sim + Mechs
Only 16 developers shipped a Mech Dating Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 9 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 9 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 9 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Mechs
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Dating Sim; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 43% positive over 3,555 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 9 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2017 · $6.2M 
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III 2020 · $5.0M 
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV 2021 · $4.1M 
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada 2025 · $4.0M 
New Gundam Breaker 2018 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | older | $39.99 | 5,131 94% | 154k | $6.2M (exactly $6,155,661) | Nihon Falcom |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | older | $59.99 | 2,770 92% | 83k | $5.0M (exactly $4,985,169) | Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 G… (Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 GmbH) |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV | older | $59.99 | 2,272 91% | 68k | $4.1M (exactly $4,088,918) | Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 G… (Nihon Falcom, Engine Software BV, PH3 GmbH) |
| | SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada | $39.99 | 3,303 40% | 99k | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) | Game Studio Inc. | |
| | New Gundam Breaker | older | $49.99 | 1,706 45% | 51k | $2.6M (exactly $2,558,488) | CRAFTS & MEISTER Co., Ltd. |
 | Baldr Sky | older | $49.99 | 1,524 93% | 46k | $2.3M (exactly $2,285,543) | Sekai Project |
 | Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition | older | $24.99 | 621 84% | 19k | $466k (exactly $465,564) | Love in Space |
 | Heaven Will Be Mine | older | $14.99 | 709 92% | 21k | $319k (exactly $318,837) | Pillow Fight, Worst Girls Games |
 | LUNARiA -Virtualized Moonchild- | older | $19.99 | 168 94% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | VISUAL ARTS/Key |
 | Corona Blossom Vol.1 Gift From the Galaxy | older | $9.99 | 267 95% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $80,020) | Frontwing |
 | Mech Academy | $9.99 | 214 91% | 6.4k | $64k (exactly $64,136) | Space Samurai Studio | |
 | BROKEN God Awakening | $4.99 | 25 76% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | lamb of game | |
 | Professor mother-in-law begged me to get pregnant | $9.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | CHEN JIAWEI | |
 | Dux Solaris | · EA | $6.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $839 (exactly $839) | MidnightMelon Games |
 | Transforming my fiancée | $9.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | FSK20006 | |
 | OKeverything with 3000 beauties 2 | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | XIOF FAN, S+TEAMBABA, XU TING | |
 | OKeverything with 3000 beauties 3 | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | XIOF FAN, XU TING, S+TEAMBABA | |
 | My Kirin kidney and my beloved teachers | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | OKEdragon | |
 | My Kirin kidney and my beloved teachers 2 | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | OKEdragon |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.