Should I ship an Economy RPG?
RPG + Economy
Of 190 developers who shipped an Economy 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.. 384 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1255 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 384 games are announced against 132 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $38,610) |
| Top 5% | $788k (exactly $788,194) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 190 |
| Released games | 438 |
| Announced | 384 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- RPG, Economy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 77,077 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 73 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 384 games are announced against 132 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era 2026 · EA · $23M 
Last Oasis 2020 · EA · $18M 
Going Medieval 2026 · $15M 
Big Ambitions 2026 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era | · EA | $39.99 | 19,251 86% | 578k | $23M (exactly $23,095,425) | Unfrozen |
| | Last Oasis | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,443 63% | 613k | $18M (exactly $18,392,567) | Donkey Crew |
| | Going Medieval | $29.99 | 17,032 88% | 511k | $15M (exactly $15,323,690) | Foxy Voxel | |
| | Big Ambitions | $25.99 | 14,003 92% | 420k | $11M (exactly $10,918,139) | Hovgaard Games | |
 | Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts | older | $34.99 | 6,664 62% | 200k | $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) | Game-Labs |
 | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
 | Tropico 5 | older | $19.99 | 9,796 78% | 294k | $5.9M (exactly $5,874,661) | Haemimont Games |
 | Touhou Mystia's Izakaya | older | $5.99 | 29,517 98% | 886k | $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) | 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社 |
 | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | SpaceBourne 2 | $19.99 | 4,951 75% | 149k | $3.0M (exactly $2,969,115) | Burak Dabak | |
 | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games | |
 | Starminer | · EA | $29.99 | 1,818 72% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,635,655) | CoolAndGoodGames |
 | House of Legacy | · EA | $14.99 | 3,269 84% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,069) | S3 Studio |
 | ZeroSpace | · EA | $39.99 | 1,161 78% | 35k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,852) | Starlance Studios, Ironward |
 | Tower Wizard | $2.99 | 8,787 96% | 264k | $788k (exactly $788,194) | Barribob |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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