Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Martial Arts
Should I ship a Martial-Arts Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Martial Arts
Of 29 developers who shipped a Martial-Arts Visual Novel 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.. 23 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×259 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 23 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $28,489) |
| Top 5% | $162k (exactly $162,424) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 64 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 30% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Martial Arts
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 4,872 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 风信楼 | older | $11.99 | 3,423 94% | 103k | $1.2M (exactly $1,231,253) | Pingfang Games |
| | 再见断刀 | $9.99 | 2,563 92% | 77k | $768k (exactly $768,131) | 非侠游戏 | |
| | Waifu Fighter | older | $7.99 | 2,677 86% | 80k | $642k (exactly $641,677) | Happy Monster Studio |
| | Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! | older | $34.99 | 212 95% | 6.4k | $223k (exactly $222,536) | Minato Soft |
| | 大侠请重来 | older | $1.99 | 3,564 82% | 107k | $213k (exactly $212,771) | 熊窝dodox |
| | 轮回修仙传 | $4.99 | 1,085 81% | 33k | $162k (exactly $162,424) | Collider Studio | |
| | Tales of Justice Academy: Winds Arise | $10.99 | 460 71% | 14k | $152k (exactly $151,662) | 九芽川 Ninth Leaf | |
| | Shuyan Saga™ | older | $14.99 | 261 86% | 7.8k | $117k (exactly $117,372) | Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc. |
| | Something To Write About: Unbroken: Book One | $13.99 | 201 90% | 6.0k | $84k (exactly $84,360) | SeanchaiStudios | |
| | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City | $24.99 | 105 76% | 3.2k | $79k (exactly $78,718) | Cortopia Studios | |
| | 铜刀银剑 | $9.26 | 188 80% | 5.6k | $52k (exactly $52,226) | 念绣科技 | |
| | Morningstar: Book of the Fallen | $14.99 | 67 94% | 2.0k | $30k (exactly $30,130) | Droid Productions | |
| | Primal Hearts | $24.99 | 38 89% | 1.1k | $28k (exactly $28,489) | Marmalade | |
| | Lilith Rising - Season 2 | $7.99 | 116 66% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,805) | Jubei Games | |
| | Wings of Empire | · EA | $14.99 | 49 87% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | Droid Productions |
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.