Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Management JRPG?

JRPG + Management

Of 37 developers who shipped a Management 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.. 35 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.4k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.4k. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 35 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 35 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $18k → $135k → $226k → $9.4k → $9.7k → $2.9k → $13k (still earning) → $18k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Median $9.4k (exactly $9,440)
Top 25% $54k (exactly $54,315)
Top 5% $476k (exactly $475,514)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 93
Announced 35
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 100% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

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, Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Simulation, Dating Sim
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.90 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.90 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 4,706 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.4k, median $9.4k, 1 in 4 over $54k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 19 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. + Souls-likeFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  7. + Point & ClickFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  8. + LootFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  9. + RoguelikeFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  10. + 2D PlatformerFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  11. + Artificial IntelligenceFair25 devs · median $4.0k · 21 announced
  12. + Resource ManagementFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 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
OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ older $59.99 13,923 85% 418k $25M (exactly $25,057,223) Square Enix, ACQUIRE Corp.
Summer Clover older $17.99 9,062 97% 272k $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) Connection
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale older $19.99 6,684 95% 201k $4.0M (exactly $4,008,395) EasyGameStation
Karryn's Prison older $29.99 4,414 95% 132k $4.0M (exactly $3,971,276) Remtairy
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Peeping Dorm Manager older $10.99 6,206 92% 186k $2.0M (exactly $2,046,118) HornyDoge
Cuisineer older $24.99 1,820 76% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,454) BattleBrew Productions
Happiness Double Room older $12.99 2,878 90% 86k $1.1M (exactly $1,121,557) Connection
Princess Maker 2 Refine older $19.99 1,610 93% 48k $966k (exactly $965,517) CFK Co., Ltd.
FRONT MISSION 1st: Remake older $34.99 745 77% 22k $782k (exactly $782,026) Forever Entertainment S. A.
Spirit Valley $14.99 1,203 89% 36k $541k (exactly $540,989) Otterside Games
FRONT MISSION 3: Remake $34.99 453 74% 14k $476k (exactly $475,514) MegaPixel Studio S.A.
Mirai's Midnight Stream $15.99 627 84% 19k $301k (exactly $300,772) Fox House
Rogue Voltage $15.99 593 92% 18k $284k (exactly $284,462) Horizont Computergrafik
Love n Life: Happy Student $9.99 719 81% 22k $215k (exactly $215,484) Reborn Entertainment
Dragon Song Tavern: Cozy & Adventurous $19.90 274 71% 8.2k $164k (exactly $163,578) Etherous Games Limited
Summer Beach $24.99 181 66% 5.4k $136k (exactly $135,696) Sakura Cat
Syn-Chorus 01: The New Life · EA $10.99 269 83% 8.1k $89k (exactly $88,689) PrisMaze棱镜迷阵
BM game Co. $7.99 236 75% 7.1k $57k (exactly $56,569) zzzgame
Novice Dungeon Master · EA $11.99 151 88% 4.5k $54k (exactly $54,315) LazyCnD

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