Do I ship it?

GamesJRPGJRPG + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel JRPG?

JRPG + Time Travel

Only 10 developers shipped a Time-Travel 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, Digimon Story Time Stranger, 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, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $24k, ×38 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $33M, ×52977 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 20 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 38.5 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 20 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
JRPG + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $108k → $1.3k (still earning) → $4.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for JRPG + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $2.1k (exactly $2,109)
Median $24k (exactly $24,161)
Top 25% $108k (exactly $107,863)
Top 5% $33M (exactly $33,269,746)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 38
Announced 20
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $13.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 800% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, 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 Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Price point
$13.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 89% positive over 18,443 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.2k, median $24k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $33M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 20 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Digimon Story Time Stranger $69.99 15,845 89% 475k $33M (exactly $33,269,746) Media.Vision Inc.
ASTLIBRA Revision older $24.99 30,262 95% 908k $23M (exactly $22,687,421) KEIZO
CHRONO TRIGGER® older $14.99 12,149 88% 364k $5.5M (exactly $5,463,405) Square Enix
DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined $59.99 2,138 88% 64k $3.8M (exactly $3,847,759) Square Enix, HEXADRIVE Inc.
FINAL FANTASY® XIII-2 older $19.99 5,136 58% 154k $3.1M (exactly $3,080,059) Square Enix
CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION older $19.99 2,174 62% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,303,748) Square Enix, D4Enterprise Co.,Ltd.
Evoland 2 older $19.99 1,843 88% 55k $1.1M (exactly $1,105,247) Shiro Games
MECHANICA: A Ballad of the Rabbit and Mercury older $19.99 830 95% 25k $498k (exactly $497,751) Loser/s
Cris Tales older $39.99 392 66% 12k $470k (exactly $470,282) Dreams Uncorporated, SYCK
Loop Queen-Escape Dungeon 3 older $19.99 611 84% 18k $366k (exactly $366,417) Hide Games
Amelie falls over and over again ~ An endless week in Magic Academy $13.99 257 80% 7.7k $108k (exactly $107,863) AVANTGARDE
Another Eden Begins $39.99 50 72% 1.5k $60k (exactly $59,985) WRIGHT FLYER STUDIOS
How to create a witch $12.99 62 66% 1.9k $24k (exactly $24,161) Kujirabo。
EMIT:Embrace Beyond Time $8.99 15 93% 450 $4.0k (exactly $4,046) LuLuLuna Studio
Elysium $0.99 71 94% 2.1k $2.1k (exactly $2,109) YvelRevo
End's Beginning · EA $8.99 5 100% 150 $1.3k (exactly $1,348) 三更梦工作室
Along Came a Dragonfly $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Cole Keesey
Critical Chaos $14.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Red Canopy Games

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