Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler JRPG?

JRPG + Idler

Of 25 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 19 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $270. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 19 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 180% on the market, 19 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.9k → $1.0k → $1.6k → $2.7k → $1.3k → $18k → $6.8k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,197)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,975)
Top 5% $293k (exactly $292,507)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 117
Announced 19
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.99

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 180% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

JRPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
JRPG, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Incremental
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 5,440 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

JRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds12 devs · median $54k · 6 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds43 devs · median $21k · 23 announced
  3. + NinjaFair7 devs · median $19k · 10 announced
  4. + RomanceFair153 devs · median $13k · 164 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair219 devs · median $13k · 265 announced
  6. + ManagementFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  9. + LootFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair25 devs · median $4.0k · 21 announced

All 142 pairs on the JRPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
再刷一把 PlayAgain older $8.99 4,416 67% 132k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,995) 滑稽工作室
Disgaea 6 Complete older $59.99 387 63% 12k $696k (exactly $696,484) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago older $7.99 725 89% 22k $174k (exactly $173,782) 14 Hours Productions
Loser Got Isekai’d – Sex, Side Jobs, and Odd Tasks $13.99 254 89% 7.6k $107k (exactly $106,604) Morexingame
Whimsy Bake&Craft $7.99 357 64% 11k $86k (exactly $85,573) MOON SCAPE
The Girl's Moving Castle $9.99 181 88% 5.4k $54k (exactly $54,246) Destined game Studio
甜點王子2 典藏版 older $9.99 179 88% 5.4k $54k (exactly $53,646) EnjoyPlay Corp.
Book of Fei $2.99 347 93% 10k $31k (exactly $31,126) TAO Studio
LAST HAREM $16.99 49 57% 1.5k $25k (exactly $24,975) Kokudo Studio
ENCOUNTER BAR $0.99 590 78% 18k $18k (exactly $17,523) 2R
Slay All Bosses: Idle $4.99 84 60% 2.5k $13k (exactly $12,575) Memoria Interactive
AFK leveling fight monsters $5.99 38 57% 1.1k $6.8k (exactly $6,829) Sora

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.