Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Psychological Horror
Of 501 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 708 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×6.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $320k, ×680 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 708 games are announced against 298 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.9k (exactly $2,875) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,478) |
| Top 5% | $323k (exactly $323,106) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 501 |
| Released games | 1,680 |
| Announced | 708 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.66 |
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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $6.66 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.66.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 108,605 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 291 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 708 games are announced against 298 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
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
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation 2018 · $39M 
Library Of Ruina 2021 · $37M 
What Remains of Edith Finch 2017 · $28M 
Magical Girl Witch Trials 2025 · $27M 
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 2017 · $26M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation | older | $24.99 | 52,522 94% | 1.6M | $39M (exactly $39,375,743) | ProjectMoon |
| | Library Of Ruina | older | $29.99 | 40,605 94% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,532,318) | ProjectMoon |
| | What Remains of Edith Finch | older | $19.99 | 47,036 95% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,207,489) | Giant Sparrow |
| | Magical Girl Witch Trials | $29.99 | 29,869 96% | 896k | $27M (exactly $26,873,139) | Acacia, Re,AER | |
| | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | older | $39.99 | 21,978 82% | 659k | $26M (exactly $26,367,007) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD | older | $15.99 | 54,053 94% | 1.6M | $26M (exactly $25,929,224) | WSS playground, xemono |
 | STEINS;GATE | older | $29.99 | 25,289 97% | 759k | $23M (exactly $22,752,513) | MAGES. Inc. |
 | Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | older | $19.99 | 36,194 96% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,705,542) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games) |
 | Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair | older | $19.99 | 30,961 95% | 929k | $19M (exactly $18,567,312) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games) |
 | Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut | older | $17.99 | 31,885 96% | 957k | $17M (exactly $17,208,334) | Black Tabby Games |
 | The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- | $59.99 | 6,893 88% | 207k | $12M (exactly $12,405,332) | Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision Inc. | |
 | Tiny Bunny | $10.99 | 27,200 83% | 816k | $9.0M (exactly $8,967,840) | Saikono, Sokar | |
 | Mixtape | $19.99 | 7,365 87% | 221k | $4.4M (exactly $4,416,790) | Beethoven and Dinosaur | |
 | Urban Myth Dissolution Center | $17.99 | 5,930 88% | 178k | $3.2M (exactly $3,200,421) | Hakababunko | |
 | 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) | |
 | The Incident at Galley House | $19.99 | 4,087 94% | 123k | $2.5M (exactly $2,450,974) | William Rous, Evil Trout Inc. | |
 | Sweet Home | $7.99 | 9,910 94% | 297k | $2.4M (exactly $2,375,427) | 开心茶房 | |
 | Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis | $16.99 | 3,974 91% | 119k | $2.0M (exactly $2,025,548) | Alliance Arts, WHO YOU | |
 | Nunholy | $7.99 | 5,150 88% | 155k | $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455) | Chowbie |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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