Do I ship it?

Games › RPG › RPG + Demons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Demon RPG?

RPG + Demons

Of 253 developers who shipped a Demon RPG 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.. 397 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×462 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 397 games are announced against 152 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 397 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Demons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 253
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.1k → $1.1k → $2.7k → $3.6k → $2.1k → $2.2k → $987 (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Demons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 253
Bottom 30% $360 (exactly $360)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,097)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $12,591)
Top 5% $290k (exactly $290,134)
Developers, 2 yr 253
Released games 708
Announced 397
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Demons
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
RPG; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 76,251 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 126 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 397 games are announced against 152 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Diablo® IV 2023 · $88M Total War: WARHAMMER 2016 · $58M Mortal Shell II 2026 · $28M ASTLIBRA Revision 2022 · $23M Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters 2022 · $15M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Diablo® IV older $49.99 58,668 69% 1.8M $88M (exactly $87,984,400) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Total War: WARHAMMER older $59.99 32,105 79% 963k $58M (exactly $57,779,368) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (L… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Linux), Feral Interactive (Mac))
Mortal Shell II $49.99 18,644 79% 559k $28M (exactly $27,960,407) Cold Symmetry
ASTLIBRA Revision older $24.99 30,262 95% 908k $23M (exactly $22,687,421) KEIZO
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters older $44.99 11,426 76% 343k $15M (exactly $15,421,672) Complex Games
Evil West older $49.99 10,215 74% 306k $15M (exactly $15,319,436) Flying Wild Hog
Monster Train older $24.99 19,950 95% 599k $15M (exactly $14,956,515) Shiny Shoe
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance older $59.99 7,858 91% 236k $14M (exactly $14,142,043) ATLUS
Darksiders Warmastered Edition older $19.99 13,942 88% 418k $8.4M (exactly $8,361,017) KAIKO, Vigil Games
Halls of Torment $6.66 30,752 95% 923k $6.1M (exactly $6,144,250) Chasing Carrots
Look Outside $9.99 13,586 98% 408k $4.1M (exactly $4,071,724) Francis Coulombe
Hell Clock $19.99 3,535 82% 106k $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) Rogue Snail
Skate Story $19.99 2,733 96% 82k $1.6M (exactly $1,638,980) by Sam Eng
Labyrinth Of The Demon King $19.99 2,116 92% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,268,965) J. R. Hudepohl
33 Immortals $14.89 2,130 72% 64k $951k (exactly $951,471) Thunder Lotus
DAIMON BLADES · EA $19.90 707 69% 21k $422k (exactly $422,079) StreumOn Studio
Shadow Dungeon $9.99 1,387 78% 42k $416k (exactly $415,684) OO Cat
Dragon Is Dead $19.99 661 75% 20k $396k (exactly $396,402) TeamSuneat

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