Do I ship it?

Games › JRPG › JRPG + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management JRPG?

JRPG + Time Management

Of 38 developers who shipped a Time 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.. 57 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $18k, ×28 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.4M, ×5468 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 57 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 27.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 57 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $128k → $7.1k → $41k → $49k → $55k → $14k → $86k (still earning) → $18k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $2.5k (exactly $2,516)
Median $18k (exactly $17,538)
Top 25% $86k (exactly $85,573)
Top 5% $3.4M (exactly $3,433,909)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 84
Announced 57
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 15% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Time Management
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, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Turn-Based Combat
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 38,634 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.6k, median $18k, 1 in 4 over $85k, 1 in 20 over $3.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M Volcano Princess 2023 · $15M Summer Memories 2020 · $14M Touhou Mystia's Izakaya 2021 · $5.3M Magical Princess 2026 · $3.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Metaphor: ReFantazio $69.99 25,224 89% 757k $53M (exactly $52,962,833) ATLUS
Volcano Princess older $10.99 45,019 97% 1.4M $15M (exactly $14,842,764) 养蛋人 Egg Hatcher
Summer Memories older $19.99 24,113 92% 723k $14M (exactly $14,460,566) Dojin Otome
Touhou Mystia's Izakaya older $5.99 29,517 98% 886k $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社
Magical Princess $14.99 7,636 96% 229k $3.4M (exactly $3,433,909) Neotro Inc., MAGI Inc.
Bloomtown: A Different Story $24.99 1,428 85% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572) Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games
Atelier Rorona ~The Alchemist of Arland~ DX older $39.99 727 91% 22k $872k (exactly $872,182) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Welcome to Elderfield $17.99 1,334 87% 40k $720k (exactly $719,960) Chris Cote
Robolife-Days with Aino older $14.99 1,387 91% 42k $624k (exactly $623,734) Barance Studio
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon older $59.99 294 75% 8.8k $529k (exactly $529,112) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots · EA $6.99 1,697 72% 51k $356k (exactly $355,861) 0x0Real Studio
Star Knightess Aura $24.99 211 86% 6.3k $158k (exactly $158,187) AuraGamedev
Summer Beach $24.99 181 66% 5.4k $136k (exactly $135,696) Sakura Cat
TK Punk Gold $11.99 291 87% 8.7k $105k (exactly $104,673) 桑尼游戏(Sunny Game)
Sweet Succubus Home $10.99 275 92% 8.3k $91k (exactly $90,668) Black Cat Entertainment
Whimsy Bake＆Craft $7.99 357 64% 11k $86k (exactly $85,573) MOON SCAPE

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