Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Party-Based RPG?
Party-Based RPG + Sci-fi
Of 55 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Party-Based RPG 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.. 112 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1989 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 112 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $390 (exactly $390) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,738) |
| Top 5% | $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 55 |
| Released games | 178 |
| Announced | 112 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 115% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Party-Based RPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Party-Based RPG; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Combat, Adventure
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 8,548 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 112 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Party-Based RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Board GameFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + IncrementalPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE | older | $39.99 | 43,473 87% | 1.3M | $52M (exactly $52,154,558) | Square Enix |
| | Wasteland 3 | older | $39.99 | 17,263 84% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,710,421) | inXile Entertainment |
| | CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION | older | $49.99 | 6,949 89% | 208k | $10M (exactly $10,421,415) | Square Enix, TOSE CO., LTD. |
| | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ | older | $9.99 | 28,518 90% | 856k | $8.5M (exactly $8,546,845) | BioWare, Aspyr (Mac) |
| | STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ II - The Sith Lords™ | older | $9.99 | 22,357 93% | 671k | $6.7M (exactly $6,700,393) | Obsidian Entertainment, Aspyr (Mac, Lin… (Obsidian Entertainment, Aspyr (Mac, Linux, & Windows Update)) |
| | Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game | older | $39.99 | 4,087 87% | 123k | $4.9M (exactly $4,903,174) | Iron Tower Studio |
| | Cyber Knights: Flashpoint | $29.99 | 2,926 93% | 88k | $2.6M (exactly $2,632,522) | Trese Brothers | |
| | Torment: Tides of Numenera | older | $34.99 | 2,046 72% | 61k | $2.1M (exactly $2,147,686) | inXile Entertainment |
| | Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten | older | $59.99 | 759 80% | 23k | $1.4M (exactly $1,365,972) | AQUAPLUS |
| | CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION | older | $19.99 | 2,174 62% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,303,748) | Square Enix, D4Enterprise Co.,Ltd. |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon | $59.99 | 710 93% | 21k | $1.3M (exactly $1,277,787) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | Stellar Tactics | $24.99 | 1,666 77% | 50k | $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) | Don Wilkins | |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II | $59.99 | 669 83% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy | $24.99 | 783 75% | 23k | $587k (exactly $587,015) | AtomTeam | |
| | Utawarerumono: Past and Present Rediscovered | $59.99 | 289 83% | 8.7k | $520k (exactly $520,113) | AQUAPLUS | |
| | Aether & Iron | $24.99 | 521 84% | 16k | $391k (exactly $390,594) | Seismic Squirrel, Chaos Theory Games | |
| | Every Day We Fight | · EA | $29.99 | 385 72% | 12k | $346k (exactly $346,384) | Signal Space Lab |
| | Battle Suit Aces | $19.99 | 347 90% | 10k | $208k (exactly $208,096) | Trinket Studios | |
| | Chaos Front | $19.99 | 252 59% | 7.6k | $151k (exactly $151,124) | Han Zhiyu |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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