Do I ship it?

GamesParty-Based RPGParty-Based RPG + Visual Novel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Visual Novel Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Visual Novel

Of 40 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 82 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2112 the market median. Revenue is up 355% on the market; 82 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 355% on the market, 82 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Visual Novel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 40
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $22k → $11k → $35k → $239 → $4.8k → $8.2k → $18k (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Visual Novel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 40
Bottom 30% $718 (exactly $718)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,777)
Top 25% $30k (exactly $29,992)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,326,583)
Developers, 2 yr 40
Released games 137
Announced 82
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 355% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Visual Novel
effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Party-Based RPG, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, JRPG, Adventure
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $57.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $57.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 11,641 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $29k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  5. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $49k · 25 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  8. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  9. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  12. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Persona 4 Golden older $19.99 71,306 97% 2.1M $43M (exactly $42,762,208) ATLUS
Sora no Kiseki the 1st $59.99 5,205 97% 156k $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438) Nihon Falcom
Pyre older $19.99 8,396 90% 252k $5.0M (exactly $5,035,081) Supergiant Games
Persona 3 Portable older $19.99 4,728 81% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,835,382) ATLUS
The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki older $49.99 1,316 91% 39k $2.0M (exactly $1,973,605) Nihon Falcom
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk older $49.99 1,311 79% 39k $2.0M (exactly $1,966,107) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki Ⅱ -CRIMSON SiN- older $59.99 789 76% 24k $1.4M (exactly $1,419,963) Nihon Falcom
Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten older $59.99 759 80% 23k $1.4M (exactly $1,365,972) AQUAPLUS
The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- $57.99 765 77% 23k $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) Nihon Falcom
Rebellion GODSOUL: Awakening · EA $17.99 2,458 85% 74k $1.3M (exactly $1,326,583) U-Secret Studio
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
The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots · EA $6.99 1,697 72% 51k $356k (exactly $355,861) 0x0Real Studio
K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut $19.99 175 53% 5.3k $105k (exactly $104,947) Wisageni Studio
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution $29.99 110 76% 3.3k $99k (exactly $98,967) Idea Factory, Compile Heart
Kitchen Sync: Aloha! $19.99 159 99% 4.8k $95k (exactly $95,352) Lemonpepper Games
Heroines of Swords & Spells 2 $9.99 262 93% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,521) Kirillkrm

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.