Do I ship it?

Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + JRPG

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a JRPG Souls-like?

Souls-like + JRPG

Of 31 developers who shipped a JRPG Souls-like 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 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $8.6k, ×5.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $2.7k. Revenue is up 7695% on the market; 35 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 7695% on the market, 35 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Souls-like + JRPG
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $2.4k → $7.2k → $75k → $20k → $3.3k → $166k (still earning) → $129k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Souls-like + JRPG: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Median $8.6k (exactly $8,573)
Top 25% $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437)
Top 5% $25M (exactly $24,728,167)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 100
Announced 35
Effort 7 / 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 up 7695% on the market, supply 45% more developers than 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Souls-like
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
JRPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Souls-like, JRPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Action RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 222,359 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.7k, median $8.6k, 1 in 4 over $1.5M, 1 in 20 over $24M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 7 in 10 of the 14 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

Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimStrong odds17 devs · median $34k · 8 announced
  2. + Visual NovelFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair13 devs · median $22k · 17 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair9 devs · median $3.9k · 10 announced
  5. + PsychologicalFair17 devs · median $1.8k · 17 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair17 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerLong shot49 devs · median $776 · 46 announced
  8. + Score AttackLong shot18 devs · median $599 · 21 announced
  9. + WarPoor odds8 devs · median $451k · 22 announced
  10. + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds12 devs · median $88k · 21 announced
  11. + RomancePoor odds10 devs · median $35k · 16 announced
  12. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 19 announced

All 122 pairs on the Souls-like page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Monster Hunter: World 2018 · $285M Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 2025 · $272M MONSTER HUNTER RISE 2022 · $96M CODE VEIN 2019 · $83M Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition 2021 · $51M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Monster Hunter: World older $29.99 317,068 89% 9.5M $285M (exactly $285,266,080) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 $49.99 181,667 95% 5.5M $272M (exactly $272,446,000) Sandfall Interactive
MONSTER HUNTER RISE older $39.99 79,847 84% 2.4M $96M (exactly $95,792,446) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
CODE VEIN older $59.99 46,315 83% 1.4M $83M (exactly $83,353,106) Bandai Namco Studios
Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition older $49.99 33,892 87% 1.0M $51M (exactly $50,827,832) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Nioh: Complete Edition older $49.99 29,580 78% 887k $44M (exactly $44,361,126) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty older $39.99 20,873 49% 626k $25M (exactly $25,041,338) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
SCARLET NEXUS older $59.99 13,749 81% 412k $25M (exactly $24,744,075) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Nioh 3 $69.99 11,777 78% 353k $25M (exactly $24,728,167) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
GOD EATER 3 older $59.99 7,736 80% 232k $14M (exactly $13,922,479) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
CODE VEIN II $69.99 5,193 66% 156k $11M (exactly $10,903,742) Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
Echoes of Aincrad $69.99 4,108 47% 123k $8.6M (exactly $8,625,568) Game Studio Inc.
BLACK SOULS $13.99 7,337 95% 220k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,339) Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?
Lost Soul Aside™ $59.99 1,307 59% 39k $2.4M (exactly $2,352,208) Ultizero Games
BLACK SOULS II $13.99 5,277 97% 158k $2.2M (exactly $2,214,757) Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?
Alabaster Dawn · EA $24.99 2,168 94% 65k $1.6M (exactly $1,625,350) Radical Fish Games
Kotama and Academy Citadel $19.99 2,542 80% 76k $1.5M (exactly $1,524,437) Atomstring Games
The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith $19.99 983 58% 29k $590k (exactly $589,505) Ason

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