Should I ship a Zombie JRPG?
JRPG + Zombies
Only 17 developers shipped a Zombie 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, House of Necrosis, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.4k, ×12 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×333 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.4k (exactly $7,368) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,509) |
| Top 5% | $209k (exactly $208,986) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- JRPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,748 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.2k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
JRPG with a different setting or mood, 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
South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ 2014 · $55M 
DEAD OR SCHOOL 2019 · $2.0M 
MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies (Neptunia) 2016 · $531k 
The Shadow of Yidhra 2021 · $447k 
Black & White 2023 · $275k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ | older | $29.99 | 60,770 97% | 1.8M | $55M (exactly $54,674,769) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | DEAD OR SCHOOL | older | $24.99 | 2,607 84% | 78k | $2.0M (exactly $1,954,468) | Studio Nanafushi |
| | MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies (Neptunia) | older | $14.99 | 1,180 88% | 35k | $531k (exactly $530,646) | IDEA FACTORY, COMPILE HEART, TAMSOFT |
| | The Shadow of Yidhra | older | $10.99 | 1,355 89% | 41k | $447k (exactly $446,744) | WhitePeach |
| | Black & White | older | $14.99 | 612 71% | 18k | $275k (exactly $275,216) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) |
 | Tunnel Escape | older | $19.99 | 407 77% | 12k | $244k (exactly $244,078) | Elzee |
 | That Time I Got Reincarnated as an Orc | older | $18.99 | 391 89% | 12k | $223k (exactly $222,753) | HONEYSOFT |
 | House of Necrosis | $11.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $209k (exactly $208,986) | Warkus | |
 | EPHEMERAL -FANTASY ON DARK- | older | $39.99 | 173 87% | 5.2k | $208k (exactly $207,548) | dramatic create |
 | Sonny Legacy Collection | $9.99 | 337 91% | 10k | $101k (exactly $100,999) | Krin Juangbhanich | |
 | Lustful Dead 🔞 | $9.99 | 267 49% | 8.0k | $80k (exactly $80,020) | BanzaiProject | |
 | Bakahazard 1+2 | $3.99 | 231 99% | 6.9k | $28k (exactly $27,651) | 流比奈梦工厂 | |
 | Sword Mistress of the Dungeon Town | $17.99 | 38 65% | 1.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Lov… (ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Loving You) | |
 | Service with a Shotgun | $6.70 | 93 94% | 2.8k | $19k (exactly $18,693) | Nolyn Vansyckle | |
 | 尸来运转-Lucky Zombie Survival | $3.99 | 86 86% | 2.6k | $10k (exactly $10,294) | Kwing works | |
 | Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated | $4.99 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $7.9k (exactly $7,934) | Shadow Layer Games LLC | |
 | DopePie Survivors 3D | $5.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $7.4k (exactly $7,368) | Dope Games | |
 | The end of paradise | $7.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) | The Salty Trio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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