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Should I ship a Visual Novel Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Visual Novel
Of 399 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 453 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.8k, ×5.2 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.5k. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 453 games are announced against 250 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.8k (exactly $7,796) |
| Top 25% | $66k (exactly $65,634) |
| Top 5% | $597k (exactly $597,301) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 399 |
| Released games | 1,053 |
| Announced | 453 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Visual Novel; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Multiple Endings, Dating Sim
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, First-Person, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 59,929 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 244 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 453 games are announced against 250 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Time TravelFair
Comparable games
Love Is All Around 2023 · $11M 
Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story 2025 · $4.4M 
Road to Empress Ⅱ 2026 · $4.2M 
The Operator 2024 · $3.6M 
Five Hearts Under One Roof 2024 · $3.5M | 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 |
| | Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story | $11.99 | 12,215 98% | 366k | $4.4M (exactly $4,393,736) | Nestopi Inc. | |
| | Road to Empress Ⅱ | $18.00 | 7,773 80% | 233k | $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) | New One Studio | |
| | The Operator | older | $13.99 | 8,515 91% | 255k | $3.6M (exactly $3,573,746) | Bureau 81 |
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof | $19.99 | 5,881 91% | 176k | $3.5M (exactly $3,526,836) | Storytaco | |
 | Road to Empress I | $8.49 | 11,829 86% | 355k | $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) | New One Studio | |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Mandate Of Heaven | $14.99 | 5,446 91% | 163k | $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) | 木焱工作室 | |
 | KinitoPET | older | $5.99 | 13,438 92% | 403k | $2.4M (exactly $2,414,809) | troy_en |
 | No Case Should Remain Unsolved | older | $6.99 | 10,332 96% | 310k | $2.2M (exactly $2,166,620) | Somi |
 | Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis | $16.99 | 3,974 91% | 119k | $2.0M (exactly $2,025,548) | Alliance Arts, WHO YOU | |
 | 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) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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