Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Turn-Based Combat
Should I ship a Turn-Based Combat Party-Based RPG?
Party-Based RPG + Turn-Based Combat
Of 335 developers who shipped a Turn-Based Combat 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.. 671 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 $4.8k, ×7.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $920k, ×1481 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 671 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $838 (exactly $838) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) |
| Top 25% | $40k (exactly $39,734) |
| Top 5% | $930k (exactly $929,824) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 335 |
| Released games | 1,089 |
| Announced | 671 |
| 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 up 170% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Turn-Based Combat
- 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, Turn-Based Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 243,949 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 8 in 10 of the 183 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 671 games are announced against 187 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, 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
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 2025 · $272M 
Persona 5 Royal 2022 · $165M 
Persona 3 Reload 2024 · $78M 
Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M 
Persona 4 Golden 2020 · $43M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | $49.99 | 181,667 95% | 5.5M | $272M (exactly $272,446,000) | Sandfall Interactive | |
| | Persona 5 Royal | older | $59.99 | 91,682 96% | 2.8M | $165M (exactly $165,000,095) | ATLUS |
| | Persona 3 Reload | older | $59.99 | 43,497 95% | 1.3M | $78M (exactly $78,281,551) | ATLUS |
| | Metaphor: ReFantazio | $69.99 | 25,224 89% | 757k | $53M (exactly $52,962,833) | ATLUS | |
| | Persona 4 Golden | older | $19.99 | 71,306 97% | 2.1M | $43M (exactly $42,762,208) | ATLUS |
 | Wartales | older | $34.99 | 32,118 86% | 964k | $34M (exactly $33,714,265) | Shiro Games |
 | Digimon Story Time Stranger | $69.99 | 15,845 89% | 475k | $33M (exactly $33,269,746) | Media.Vision Inc. | |
 | Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition | older | $39.99 | 27,485 88% | 825k | $33M (exactly $32,973,754) | Larian Studios |
 | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
 | OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ | older | $59.99 | 13,923 85% | 418k | $25M (exactly $25,057,223) | Square Enix, ACQUIRE Corp. |
 | Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter | $59.99 | 4,650 95% | 140k | $8.4M (exactly $8,368,605) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake | $59.99 | 4,010 75% | 120k | $7.2M (exactly $7,216,797) | Square Enix, ARTDINK | |
 | Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven | $49.99 | 3,921 93% | 118k | $5.9M (exactly $5,880,324) | Square Enix, xeen Inc. | |
 | OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 | $49.99 | 2,873 78% | 86k | $4.3M (exactly $4,308,638) | Square Enix, DOKIDOKI GROOVE WORKS | |
 | DRAGON QUEST VII Reimagined | $59.99 | 2,138 88% | 64k | $3.8M (exactly $3,847,759) | Square Enix, HEXADRIVE Inc. | |
 | DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake | $59.99 | 1,731 84% | 52k | $3.1M (exactly $3,115,281) | Square Enix, ARTDINK | |
 | Sunderfolk | $49.99 | 1,890 93% | 57k | $2.8M (exactly $2,834,433) | Secret Door |
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.