Games › Management › Management + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel Management game?
Management + Visual Novel
Of 131 developers who shipped a Visual Novel Management game 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.. 197 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.2k, ×9.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×540 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 197 games are announced against 75 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.2k (exactly $6,232) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $35,526) |
| Top 5% | $339k (exactly $338,972) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 320 |
| Announced | 197 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management, Visual Novel; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Choices Matter, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 16,176 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.9k. 7 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 197 games are announced against 75 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation 2018 · $39M 
Summer Clover 2024 · $4.9M 
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · $4.9M 
This Is the Police 2016 · $4.1M 
Sailing Era 2023 · $3.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation | older | $24.99 | 52,522 94% | 1.6M | $39M (exactly $39,375,743) | ProjectMoon |
| | Summer Clover | older | $17.99 | 9,062 97% | 272k | $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) | Connection |
| | The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante | older | $19.99 | 8,151 89% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,888,155) | Sever, Schisma Games |
| | This Is the Police | older | $14.99 | 9,153 82% | 275k | $4.1M (exactly $4,116,104) | Weappy Studio |
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
 | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
 | 小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop | older | $10.99 | 9,176 93% | 275k | $3.0M (exactly $3,025,327) | 落叶岛项目组, 橘子班 |
 | Idol Manager | older | $19.99 | 3,777 87% | 113k | $2.3M (exactly $2,265,067) | Glitch Pitch |
 | Promise Mascot Agency | $24.99 | 2,569 96% | 77k | $1.9M (exactly $1,925,979) | Kaizen Game Works | |
 | FEMBOY FUTA HOUSE | $14.99 | 4,131 89% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,857,711) | IT'S A TRAP | |
 | Sovereign Tower | $19.99 | 3,087 93% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | Quickie: A Love Hotel Story | $19.99 | 2,081 95% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,247,976) | Oppai Games | |
 | Sani Yang's Laboratory | $24.99 | 1,073 98% | 32k | $804k (exactly $804,428) | TALESSHOP Co., Ltd. | |
 | Corruption Town | · EA | $14.99 | 992 88% | 30k | $446k (exactly $446,102) | BoredBasmati |
 | Maid Cafe on Electric Street | $18.99 | 595 82% | 18k | $339k (exactly $338,972) | Adventurer's Tavern | |
 | Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator | $19.99 | 513 91% | 15k | $308k (exactly $307,646) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Mirai's Midnight Stream | $15.99 | 627 84% | 19k | $301k (exactly $300,772) | Fox House | |
 | Wax Heads | $14.99 | 508 96% | 15k | $228k (exactly $228,448) | Patattie Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.