Games › JRPG › JRPG + Detective
Should I ship a Detective JRPG?
JRPG + Detective
Of 29 developers who shipped a Detective JRPG 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.7k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×500 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,979) |
| Top 5% | $314k (exactly $313,756) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 92 |
| Announced | 40 |
| 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 down 85% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- JRPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,181 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
JRPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + NinjaFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + ManagementFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
Persona 5 Royal 2022 · $165M 
Persona 4 Golden 2020 · $43M 
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition 2019 · $16M 
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus 2024 · $1.9M 
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army 2025 · $1.6M | 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 4 Golden | older | $19.99 | 71,306 97% | 2.1M | $43M (exactly $42,762,208) | ATLUS |
| | Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 10,810 89% | 324k | $16M (exactly $16,211,757) | h.a.n.d., Inc., Media.Vision Inc. |
| | Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus | older | $29.99 | 2,142 80% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,927,157) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army | $49.99 | 1,045 93% | 31k | $1.6M (exactly $1,567,186) | ATLUS | |
 | The Test | older | $1.99 | 19,599 96% | 588k | $1.2M (exactly $1,170,060) | Randumb Studios |
 | Detective Girl of the Steam City | older | $14.99 | 1,894 91% | 57k | $852k (exactly $851,732) | Clymenia |
 | Spirit Hunter: Death Mark | older | $49.99 | 344 86% | 10k | $516k (exactly $515,897) | EXPERIENCE |
 | Trainee Death Simulator | $5.99 | 1,746 92% | 52k | $314k (exactly $313,756) | Bone Nail | |
 | MeteoriteFall | $12.99 | 651 78% | 20k | $254k (exactly $253,695) | ST studio | |
 | VARLET | $59.99 | 121 47% | 3.6k | $218k (exactly $217,764) | FURYU CORPORATION | |
 | Neon Blood | $17.99 | 73 60% | 2.2k | $39k (exactly $39,398) | ChaoticBrain Studios | |
 | Elton Manor: Requiem of the Cursed Roses | $9.99 | 129 93% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | 阿魯, Playmeow | |
 | 久美子之死：昭和少女血色告白 | $8.99 | 125 88% | 3.8k | $34k (exactly $33,712) | LingVision Games | |
 | The Angel's Devil Tail - One More Question 2 | $9.99 | 70 91% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $20,979) | 橘音 | |
 | Salvation:Immortale | $4.99 | 111 81% | 3.3k | $17k (exactly $16,617) | 琉璃花糖制作组 | |
 | Dig Night | $3.99 | 110 99% | 3.3k | $13k (exactly $13,167) | INUSHIT |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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