Do I ship it?

GamesParty-Based RPGParty-Based RPG + Dating Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dating Sim Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Dating Sim

Only 13 developers shipped a Dating Sim Party-Based RPG 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, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $49k, ×78 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $23k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.3M, ×8445 the market median. Revenue is up 420% on the market; 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 77.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 420% on the market, 25 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Dating Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $125k → $49k → $1.3M → $38k
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Dating Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $22k (exactly $22,189)
Median $49k (exactly $48,899)
Top 25% $413k (exactly $412,987)
Top 5% $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 51
Announced 25
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $17.99

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 420% on the market, supply 15% fewer 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dating Sim
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Party-Based RPG, Dating Sim
Price point
$17.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 8,086 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $23k, median $49k, 1 in 4 over $410k, 1 in 20 over $5.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $23k. 5 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  5. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  6. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  7. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  8. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  11. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds46 devs · median $13k · 87 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Persona 5 Royal older $59.99 91,682 96% 2.8M $165M (exactly $165,000,095) ATLUS
Persona 3 Reload older $59.99 43,497 95% 1.3M $78M (exactly $78,281,551) ATLUS
Persona 4 Golden older $19.99 71,306 97% 2.1M $43M (exactly $42,762,208) ATLUS
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel older $39.99 5,131 94% 154k $6.2M (exactly $6,155,661) Nihon Falcom
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $59.99 2,947 88% 88k $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) Marvelous Inc.
Persona 3 Portable older $19.99 4,728 81% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,835,382) ATLUS
Rune Factory 5 older $39.99 1,940 76% 58k $2.3M (exactly $2,327,418) Marvelous Inc.
Rune Factory 4 Special older $29.99 2,070 88% 62k $1.9M (exactly $1,862,379) Marvelous Inc.
Rebellion GODSOUL: Awakening · EA $17.99 2,458 85% 74k $1.3M (exactly $1,326,583) U-Secret Studio
Agarest: Generations of War older $14.99 1,668 70% 50k $750k (exactly $750,100) Idea Factory
Ledgerbound $29.99 562 92% 17k $506k (exactly $505,631) OmniMegaSuperCorp
FLAM EVAW $9.99 1,378 95% 41k $413k (exactly $412,987) 北京万合瑞晟文化传媒有限公司
Erannorth Renaissance $19.99 186 81% 5.6k $112k (exactly $111,544) Spyridon Thalassinos
K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut $19.99 175 53% 5.3k $105k (exactly $104,947) Wisageni Studio
BM Love Cafe $7.99 204 77% 6.1k $49k (exactly $48,899) zzzgame
Rewrite Harvest festa! $19.99 64 96% 1.9k $38k (exactly $38,381) VisualArts/Key
Naughty Tales of Rabbits - A Cuckold RPG $9.99 75 88% 2.3k $22k (exactly $22,478) Hyanmaru Games
UltraGirl Alters $19.99 37 64% 1.1k $22k (exactly $22,189) FutureInvention

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