Should I ship a PvE JRPG?
JRPG + PvE
Of 86 developers who shipped a PvE 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.. 135 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $920k, ×1477 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 135 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $40,923) |
| Top 5% | $927k (exactly $927,368) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 86 |
| Released games | 222 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 20% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- JRPG, PvE; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 30,969 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
MONSTER HUNTER RISE 2022 · $96M 
Granblue Fantasy: Relink 2024 · $49M 
Temtem 2022 · $42M 
FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time 2025 · $21M 
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin 2021 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MONSTER HUNTER RISE | older | $39.99 | 79,847 84% | 2.4M | $96M (exactly $95,792,446) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Granblue Fantasy: Relink | older | $39.99 | 41,227 89% | 1.2M | $49M (exactly $49,460,032) | Cygames, Inc. |
| | Temtem | older | $44.99 | 31,263 82% | 938k | $42M (exactly $42,195,671) | Crema |
| | FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time | $59.99 | 11,771 91% | 353k | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
| | Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin | older | $39.99 | 11,845 82% | 355k | $14M (exactly $14,210,446) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | DragonSword : Awakening | $29.99 | 10,568 90% | 317k | $9.5M (exactly $9,508,030) | Hound13 Inc. | |
 | STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R | older | $49.99 | 3,229 92% | 97k | $4.8M (exactly $4,842,531) | Square Enix, Gemdrops, Inc. |
 | SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream | $59.99 | 2,021 64% | 61k | $3.6M (exactly $3,637,194) | Dimps Corporation | |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak | older | $59.99 | 1,172 91% | 35k | $2.1M (exactly $2,109,248) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH |
 | Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Vol. 1 | older | $39.99 | 1,290 87% | 39k | $1.5M (exactly $1,547,613) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | FREEDOM WARS Remastered | $39.99 | 1,211 69% | 36k | $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837) | Dimps Corporation | |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon | $59.99 | 710 93% | 21k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,787) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II | $59.99 | 669 83% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Tales of Graces f Remastered | $39.99 | 773 87% | 23k | $927k (exactly $927,368) | TOSE CO., LTD. | |
 | Endless Alice | · EA | $8.99 | 2,307 91% | 69k | $622k (exactly $622,198) | HowlingRain, 台灣響雨互娛, 響雨@OSAKA |
 | DOKAPON! Sword of Fury | $24.99 | 354 85% | 11k | $265k (exactly $265,394) | Sting | |
 | Sea Fantasy | $14.99 | 585 86% | 18k | $263k (exactly $263,074) | METASLA |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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