Should I ship a Romance FMV?
FMV + Romance
Of 101 developers who shipped a Romance FMV 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.. 63 more are announced.
Verdict: strong odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $56k, ×118 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 7 in 10 cleared $14k. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 63 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×1.1 per shipper.
| Bottom 30% | $15k (exactly $14,889) |
|---|---|
| Median | $56k (exactly $56,049) |
| Top 25% | $143k (exactly $143,410) |
| Top 5% | $610k (exactly $609,945) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 101 |
| Released games | 197 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- FMV; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dating Sim, Multiple Endings, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, First-Person, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 68,414 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $15k. 3 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
FMV with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalStrong odds
- + Post-apocalypticStrong odds
- + StrategyStrong odds
- + Multiple EndingsStrong odds
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + Choices MatterStrong odds
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + RPGStrong odds
- + Life SimStrong odds
Comparable games
Love Is All Around 2023 · $11M 
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M 
Five Hearts Under One Roof 2024 · $3.5M 
Knowledge, or know Lady 2024 · $1.8M 
The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth 2026 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Love Is All Around | older | $9.99 | 36,203 93% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $10,850,039) | intiny |
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof | $19.99 | 5,881 91% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) | Storytaco | |
| | Knowledge, or know Lady | older | $6.99 | 8,501 95% | 255k | $1.8M (exactly $1,782,660) | 蒸汽满满工作室 |
| | The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth | $19.99 | 2,564 91% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,537,631) | 玛奇阿朵互娱科技, 山与海工作室 | |
 | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
 | Hello Love: 18 Again | $19.99 | 2,075 92% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,244,378) | 念念而忘(Echofall Studio) | |
 | 失业了，我获得了亿万游戏财产！ | older | $12.99 | 2,787 86% | 84k | $1.1M (exactly $1,086,094) | Bolingogames |
 | Five Dates | older | $14.99 | 2,097 87% | 63k | $943k (exactly $943,021) | Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media |
 | Rebooted Fate | $14.99 | 1,846 95% | 55k | $830k (exactly $830,146) | Jilin miaomiao, 山与海工作室 | |
 | Love is All Around: Echoes of Yesterday | $10.99 | 1,850 81% | 56k | $610k (exactly $609,945) | intiny | |
 | 极速营救 | $9.99 | 1,860 86% | 56k | $557k (exactly $557,442) | 优映文化, 想象颗粒 | |
 | 我只是想让她们都幸福 | $9.99 | 1,837 97% | 55k | $551k (exactly $550,549) | 心宿影视 | |
 | Heartbeat in Thailand | $9.99 | 1,742 97% | 52k | $522k (exactly $522,077) | RainbowGame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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