Do I ship it?

GamesImmersive SimImmersive Sim + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance Immersive Sim?

Immersive Sim + Romance

Of 254 developers who shipped a Romance Immersive Sim 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.. 266 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $12k, ×8.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.9k. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 266 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 266 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Immersive Sim + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 254
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.5k → $6.7k → $19k → $31k → $10k → $21k → $6.9k (still earning) → $7.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Immersive Sim + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 254
Bottom 30% $2.9k (exactly $2,876)
Median $12k (exactly $11,994)
Top 25% $76k (exactly $75,550)
Top 5% $551k (exactly $550,549)
Developers, 2 yr 254
Released games 689
Announced 266
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 down 15% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Immersive Sim
effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Immersive Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dating Sim, Simulation, Visual Novel
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Emotional, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 64,914 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.9k, median $12k, 1 in 4 over $75k, 1 in 20 over $550k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.9k. 7 in 10 of the 163 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 266 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Immersive Sim with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds112 devs · median $63k · 58 announced
  2. + Trading Card GameStrong odds18 devs · median $30k · 13 announced
  3. + MinigamesStrong odds15 devs · median $24k · 11 announced
  4. + WesternStrong odds17 devs · median $4.4k · 14 announced
  5. + BoxingStrong odds16 devs · median $2.7k · 12 announced
  6. + Job SimulatorFair152 devs · median $20k · 180 announced
  7. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair8 devs · median $17k · 10 announced
  8. + Dating SimFair295 devs · median $13k · 296 announced
  9. + LGBTQ+Fair87 devs · median $11k · 93 announced
  10. + Visual NovelFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  11. + Split ScreenFair12 devs · median $6.0k · 14 announced
  12. + Time TravelFair20 devs · median $3.7k · 10 announced

All 219 pairs on the Immersive Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
inZOI · EA $39.99 30,020 77% 901k $36M (exactly $36,014,994) inZOI Studio
Le Mans Ultimate $39.99 15,068 79% 452k $18M (exactly $18,077,080) Studio 397
Love Is All Around older $9.99 36,203 93% 1.1M $11M (exactly $10,850,039) intiny
House Party older $24.99 13,968 85% 419k $10M (exactly $10,471,810) Eek! Games, LLC
Five Hearts Under One Roof $19.99 5,881 91% 176k $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) Storytaco
Roots of Pacha older $24.99 3,779 93% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) Soda Den
Moonlight Peaks $34.99 1,793 88% 54k $1.9M (exactly $1,882,112) Little Chicken
Lust Theory - Season 1 older $17.99 3,451 88% 104k $1.9M (exactly $1,862,505) Inceton Games
Knowledge, or know Lady older $6.99 8,501 95% 255k $1.8M (exactly $1,782,660) 蒸汽满满工作室
Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition older $14.99 3,579 55% 107k $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) Klabater
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)
The Wife Next Door $16.99 1,951 89% 59k $994k (exactly $994,425) 雪山雞白郎, SnowGBL
Football Life Simulator · EA $19.99 1,567 68% 47k $940k (exactly $939,730) Ludu Arts
Rebooted Fate $14.99 1,846 95% 55k $830k (exactly $830,146) Jilin miaomiao, 山与海工作室

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