Do I ship it?

Games › RPG › RPG + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler RPG?

RPG + Idler

Of 357 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 471 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 471 games are announced against 261 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 471 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 357
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.2k → $1.1k → $6.9k → $3.4k → $5.4k → $2.7k → $1.7k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 357
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,153)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,521)
Top 5% $181k (exactly $181,238)
Developers, 2 yr 357
Released games 906
Announced 471
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 15% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 27%, 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.

RPG
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
RPG, Idler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 30,506 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 157 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 471 games are announced against 261 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  3. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  4. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  6. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  7. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  9. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  10. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  11. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced
  12. + Turn-BasedPoor odds208 devs · median $27k · 294 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Melvor Idle 2021 · $4.4M THE LONGING 2020 · $3.1M Swords & Souls: Neverseen 2019 · $2.7M Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim 2025 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Melvor Idle older $9.99 14,630 90% 439k $4.4M (exactly $4,384,611) Games by Malcs
THE LONGING older $14.99 6,977 92% 209k $3.1M (exactly $3,137,557) Studio Seufz
Swords & Souls: Neverseen older $14.99 6,077 93% 182k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,827) SoulGame Studio
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim $24.90 2,938 77% 88k $2.2M (exactly $2,194,686) Rockbee Team
BitCraft Online · EA $15.99 3,334 72% 100k $1.6M (exactly $1,599,320) Clockwork Laboratories, Inc.
Retirement Simulator · EA older $13.99 3,757 34% 113k $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) DoubleThink Studio
再刷一把 PlayAgain older $8.99 4,416 67% 132k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,995) 滑稽工作室
Multiverse Loot Hunter $11.99 2,585 80% 78k $930k (exactly $929,824) 游戏养家工作室
Swag and Sorcery older $12.99 2,318 54% 70k $903k (exactly $903,325) Lazy Bear Games, Uroboros Games
Tower Wizard $2.99 8,787 96% 264k $788k (exactly $788,194) Barribob
Horripilant $7.99 2,928 92% 88k $702k (exactly $701,842) Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
Fish to Dish: Idle Sushi $5.99 2,525 96% 76k $454k (exactly $453,742) Kygua Tech
xiuzhen idle $5.99 2,313 79% 69k $416k (exactly $415,646) 游戏养家工作室
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising $9.99 1,160 77% 35k $348k (exactly $347,652) Small Mill, Small Mill

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