Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Platformer JRPG?

JRPG + Platformer

Only 14 developers shipped a Platformer JRPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Kotama and Academy Citadel, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 38 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×9.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2427 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 38 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 190% on the market, 38 announced, ×4.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $0 → $600k → $1.1M → $94k → $3.8k (still earning) → $9.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $2.4k (exactly $2,399)
Median $5.8k (exactly $5,753)
Top 25% $58k (exactly $57,842)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 65
Announced 38
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 190% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 2%, 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
Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Action
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 3,742 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 $5.8k, 1 in 4 over $57k, 1 in 20 over $1.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.

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. + ManagementFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  7. + Souls-likeFair31 devs · median $8.6k · 35 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  9. + LootFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  10. + RoguelikeFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair150 devs · median $4.2k · 157 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair25 devs · median $4.0k · 21 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
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS™ 2 older $49.99 6,888 92% 207k $10M (exactly $10,329,934) Square Enix, KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Monster Sanctuary older $19.99 10,416 91% 312k $6.2M (exactly $6,246,475) moi rai games
DEAD OR SCHOOL older $24.99 2,607 84% 78k $2.0M (exactly $1,954,468) Studio Nanafushi
Ys Origin older $19.99 3,116 92% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,868,665) Nihon Falcom
Phoenotopia: Awakening older $19.99 2,755 82% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,652,173) Cape Cosmic
Touhou Hero of Ice Fairy older $6.99 7,714 97% 231k $1.6M (exactly $1,617,626) GAMEPULSE 游戏脉冲
Kotama and Academy Citadel $19.99 2,542 80% 76k $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437) Atomstring Games
Indivisible older $19.99 2,458 72% 74k $1.5M (exactly $1,474,063) Lab Zero Games
Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune older $24.99 1,914 82% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,434,926) IceSitruuna
Hylics 2 older $14.99 3,158 96% 95k $1.4M (exactly $1,420,153) Mason Lindroth
3dSen PC $14.99 524 91% 16k $236k (exactly $235,643) Geod Studio
3dSen VR $24.99 165 91% 5.0k $124k (exactly $123,700) Geod Studio
Portal Fantasy $14.99 210 62% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Portal Fantasy
Dungeons And Cat $9.99 193 88% 5.8k $58k (exactly $57,842) CatBellUnion
Lorain $10.99 34 76% 1.0k $11k (exactly $11,210) OmenOcta
Tame Me Hard! $10.99 28 57% 840 $9.2k (exactly $9,232) IniBugyo
Reindeer Story $7.99 24 95% 720 $5.8k (exactly $5,753) Azzie, Smoggysoft
Drealegy $10.00 14 64% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,200) ArcWillow
Sunken Sky $15.99 8 87% 240 $3.8k (exactly $3,838) Codenightly

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