Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror RPG?

RPG + Psychological Horror

Of 419 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 744 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1136 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 744 games are announced against 229 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 744 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 419
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.8k → $12k → $2.6k → $3.3k → $4.5k → $3.9k → $4.0k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 419
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,116)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,900)
Top 5% $713k (exactly $713,483)
Developers, 2 yr 419
Released games 1,286
Announced 744
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 15% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

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
RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Visual Novel
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 236,187 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $710k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 245 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 744 games are announced against 229 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Undertale older $9.99 307,601 96% 9.2M $92M (exactly $92,188,020) tobyfox
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard $59.99 41,393 67% 1.2M $74M (exactly $74,494,982) BioWare
MiSide $14.99 122,007 97% 3.7M $55M (exactly $54,866,548) AIHASTO
OMORI older $19.99 79,836 97% 2.4M $48M (exactly $47,877,649) OMOCAT, LLC
Library Of Ruina older $29.99 40,605 94% 1.2M $37M (exactly $36,532,318) ProjectMoon
DREDGE older $24.99 47,624 95% 1.4M $36M (exactly $35,703,713) Black Salt Games
Prey older $29.99 37,759 90% 1.1M $34M (exactly $33,971,772) Arkane Studios
Sultan's Game $24.99 25,061 93% 752k $19M (exactly $18,788,232) Double Cross
OneShot older $9.99 59,201 98% 1.8M $18M (exactly $17,742,540) Future Cat LLC
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut older $17.99 31,885 96% 957k $17M (exactly $17,208,334) Black Tabby Games
Halloween: The Game $39.99 11,868 68% 356k $14M (exactly $14,238,040) IllFonic
CODE VEIN II $69.99 5,193 66% 156k $11M (exactly $10,903,742) Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE $49.99 2,663 87% 80k $4.0M (exactly $3,993,701) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
BLACK SOULS $13.99 7,337 95% 220k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,339) Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?
The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall $11.99 8,227 58% 247k $3.0M (exactly $2,959,252) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Pathologic 3 $34.99 2,528 80% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) Ice-Pick Lodge
Sweet Home $7.99 9,910 94% 297k $2.4M (exactly $2,375,427) 开心茶房

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