Do I ship it?

Games › JRPG › JRPG + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot JRPG?

JRPG + Robots

Only 13 developers shipped a Robot 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, Artis Impact, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $29k, ×46 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2094 the market median. Revenue is up 635% on the market; 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 46.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 635% on the market, 20 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $311k → $95k → $538 → $29k → $63k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $29k (exactly $29,053)
Top 25% $209k (exactly $209,250)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,314,868)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 43
Announced 20
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $16.99

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 635% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Robots
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
Price point
$16.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $16.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 4,014 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $29k, 1 in 4 over $200k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

JRPG with a different setting or mood, 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

NieR:Automata™ 2017 · $138M SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS 2019 · $12M Super Robot Wars 30 2021 · $10M Artis Impact 2025 · $1.3M The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II 2025 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NieR:Automata™ older $39.99 115,103 88% 3.5M $138M (exactly $138,089,069) Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc.
SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS older $59.99 6,939 82% 208k $12M (exactly $12,488,118) TOM CREATE, 株式会社トムクリエイト
Super Robot Wars 30 older $59.99 5,608 85% 168k $10M (exactly $10,092,718) Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc.
Artis Impact $18.99 2,308 84% 69k $1.3M (exactly $1,314,868) Mas
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II $59.99 669 83% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
MEGATON MUSASHI W: WIRED older $49.99 688 78% 21k $1.0M (exactly $1,031,794) LEVEL5 Inc.
FRONT MISSION 1st: Remake older $34.99 745 77% 22k $782k (exactly $782,026) Forever Entertainment S. A.
Robolife-Days with Aino older $14.99 1,387 91% 42k $624k (exactly $623,734) Barance Studio
FRONT MISSION 3: Remake $34.99 453 74% 14k $476k (exactly $475,514) MegaPixel Studio S.A.
Wolfstride older $14.99 780 89% 23k $351k (exactly $350,766) OTA IMON Studios
Botworld Odyssey $25.00 279 76% 8.4k $209k (exactly $209,250) Featherweight Games
STARBITES $49.99 42 64% 1.3k $63k (exactly $62,987) IKINAGAMES
Steel Century Groove $19.99 98 94% 2.9k $59k (exactly $58,771) Sloth Gloss Games
The Cuniculus of Paradise $16.99 57 87% 1.7k $29k (exactly $29,053) Doubles Core
Yunashi no Yume $14.99 58 87% 1.7k $26k (exactly $26,083) The Yunashi Archive
Frameland: A Binary Tale $9.99 48 97% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) Team Frameland
Night of the Stars $9.99 2 100% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Aldorlea Games

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