Games › JRPG › JRPG + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction JRPG?
JRPG + Interactive Fiction
Of 99 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 125 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.4k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×203 the market median. Revenue is up 780% on the market; 125 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.4k (exactly $8,432) |
| Top 25% | $38k (exactly $38,381) |
| Top 5% | $128k (exactly $127,594) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 99 |
| Released games | 273 |
| Announced | 125 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 780% on the market, supply 35% 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.
- JRPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- JRPG, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 13,192 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.9k. 8 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 125 games are announced against 59 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
JRPG with a different second tag, 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
SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M 
Sora no Kiseki the 1st 2025 · $9.4M 
OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition 2021 · $6.5M 
Finding Paradise 2017 · $5.4M 
Summer Clover 2024 · $4.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Sora no Kiseki the 1st | $59.99 | 5,205 97% | 156k | $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438) | Nihon Falcom | |
| | OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition | older | $24.99 | 8,722 96% | 262k | $6.5M (exactly $6,538,883) | SIGONO INC. |
| | Finding Paradise | older | $9.99 | 18,126 97% | 544k | $5.4M (exactly $5,432,362) | Freebird Games |
| | Summer Clover | older | $17.99 | 9,062 97% | 272k | $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) | Connection |
 | Haven | older | $24.99 | 5,294 88% | 159k | $4.0M (exactly $3,968,912) | The Game Bakers |
 | Impostor Factory | older | $9.99 | 11,967 95% | 359k | $3.6M (exactly $3,586,510) | Freebird Games |
 | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
 | Noctuary | older | $29.99 | 2,371 94% | 71k | $2.1M (exactly $2,133,189) | Gratesca |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki | older | $49.99 | 1,316 91% | 39k | $2.0M (exactly $1,973,605) | Nihon Falcom |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- | $57.99 | 765 77% | 23k | $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | 灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 | $9.99 | 3,682 90% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) | 莓夜工作室 | |
 | KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- | $54.99 | 403 78% | 12k | $665k (exactly $664,829) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter | $59.99 | 171 97% | 5.1k | $308k (exactly $307,749) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | Soul Touch | $9.99 | 1,007 97% | 30k | $302k (exactly $301,798) | URAYAHA.TECH | |
 | 万词破 - 单词女友 | $14.99 | 448 89% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,466) | 万词破学游组 | |
 | Love Confessions on the Adventure | $10.99 | 387 94% | 12k | $128k (exactly $127,594) | Yoü Studio | |
 | Our Brief Eternity | $4.99 | 749 99% | 22k | $112k (exactly $112,125) | 土豆花制作组 | |
 | 每日亲亲洛丽塔 | $8.99 | 375 74% | 11k | $101k (exactly $101,138) | 夜羊社 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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