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Should I ship a Demon Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Demons
Of 120 developers who shipped a Demon Visual Novel 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.. 134 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×302 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 134 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,242) |
| Top 5% | $143k (exactly $143,328) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 120 |
| Released games | 342 |
| Announced | 134 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 55% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Demons
- 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
- Visual Novel; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.66 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.66 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 8,444 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Coffin of Andy and Leyley | · EA older | $11.99 | 36,603 96% | 1.1M | $13M (exactly $13,166,099) | Kit9 Studio |
| | Monster Prom | older | $11.99 | 12,245 93% | 367k | $4.4M (exactly $4,404,526) | Beautiful Glitch |
| | Soul Hackers 2 | older | $59.99 | 2,300 65% | 69k | $4.1M (exactly $4,139,310) | ATLUS |
| | The Thaumaturge | older | $34.99 | 3,888 81% | 117k | $4.1M (exactly $4,081,234) | Fool's Theory |
| | BAD END THEATER | older | $9.99 | 8,877 97% | 266k | $2.7M (exactly $2,660,437) | NomnomNami |
| | The Ditzy Demons Are in Love With Me | older | $24.99 | 1,469 96% | 44k | $1.1M (exactly $1,101,309) | SMILE |
| | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
| | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames | |
| | Lucy Got Problems | older | $7.99 | 1,825 87% | 55k | $437k (exactly $437,452) | Nupu Neko Dev, Flat Chest Dev |
| | Demonheart | older | $19.99 | 714 89% | 21k | $428k (exactly $428,186) | Rolling Crown |
| | Demons' Timeline | $10.99 | 1,046 97% | 31k | $345k (exactly $344,866) | DigitalCats | |
| | Forbidden Fantasy | $6.99 | 1,459 88% | 44k | $306k (exactly $305,952) | OppaiMan Studios | |
| | FUTA RUNNER: Big Dick Edition | $6.99 | 733 66% | 22k | $154k (exactly $153,710) | Evil Boobs Cult | |
| | Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To | $19.99 | 239 94% | 7.2k | $143k (exactly $143,328) | Soft Not Weak, LLC | |
| | Puppet House | $17.99 | 189 89% | 5.7k | $102k (exactly $102,003) | Vecube Studio, Spirit Games Studio | |
| | Married Into Hell | $11.99 | 265 80% | 8.0k | $95k (exactly $95,320) | WorkNite Games | |
| | Demonheart: The Cursed Trial | $24.99 | 115 90% | 3.5k | $86k (exactly $86,216) | Rolling Crown | |
| | Heart of the Forest | $12.99 | 202 70% | 6.1k | $79k (exactly $78,719) | Trapped Predator |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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