Should I ship a Horror JRPG?
JRPG + Horror
Of 70 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 115 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1146 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 115 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $20,441) |
| Top 5% | $720k (exactly $719,960) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 70 |
| Released games | 260 |
| Announced | 115 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 70% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 10,370 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 115 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
OMORI 2020 · $48M 
Ruined King: A League of Legends Story™ 2021 · $9.6M 
Attack on Titan 2 - A.O.T.2 2023 · $8.2M 
LISA: The Painful 2014 · $7.9M 
Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy 2024 · $5.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | OMORI | older | $19.99 | 79,836 97% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,877,649) | OMOCAT, LLC |
| | Ruined King: A League of Legends Story™ | older | $29.99 | 10,623 88% | 319k | $9.6M (exactly $9,557,513) | Airship Syndicate |
| | Attack on Titan 2 - A.O.T.2 | older | $39.99 | 6,823 93% | 205k | $8.2M (exactly $8,185,553) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | LISA: The Painful | older | $19.99 | 13,129 95% | 394k | $7.9M (exactly $7,873,461) | Dingaling Productions |
| | Living With Sister: Monochrome Fantasy | older | $12.99 | 15,119 69% | 454k | $5.9M (exactly $5,891,874) | Inusuku |
 | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina | older | $11.99 | 14,232 97% | 427k | $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) | Miro Haverinen |
 | Fear & Hunger | older | $7.99 | 20,881 94% | 626k | $5.0M (exactly $5,005,176) | Miro Haverinen |
 | TOKYO GHOUL:re [CALL to EXIST] | older | $59.99 | 2,206 71% | 66k | $4.0M (exactly $3,970,138) | Three Rings Inc. |
 | PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo | older | $19.99 | 6,123 95% | 184k | $3.7M (exactly $3,671,963) | Square Enix |
 | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
 | PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse | $24.99 | 2,169 95% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,626,099) | Square Enix | |
 | OFF | $14.99 | 3,093 95% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,390,922) | Mortis Ghost, Fangamer | |
 | Everhood 2 | $19.99 | 2,207 74% | 66k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,538) | Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca | |
 | Welcome to Elderfield | $17.99 | 1,334 87% | 40k | $720k (exactly $719,960) | Chris Cote | |
 | House of Necrosis | $11.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $209k (exactly $208,986) | Warkus | |
 | THYSIASTERY | $17.49 | 309 80% | 9.3k | $162k (exactly $162,132) | DIRGA | |
 | Lustful Dead 🔞 | $9.99 | 267 49% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $80,020) | BanzaiProject | |
 | Hermit and Pig | $14.99 | 174 98% | 5.2k | $78k (exactly $78,248) | Heavy Lunch Studio LLC | |
 | Veloria | $14.99 | 100 89% | 3.0k | $45k (exactly $44,970) | WANDERING WITCH PROIECTUM | |
 | Exorcist Onmyoji | $10.99 | 136 77% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $44,839) | 樹懶叫工作室, 哈皮, Maker製造機 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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