Games › RPG › RPG + Quick-Time Events
Should I ship a Quick-Time Events RPG?
RPG + Quick-Time Events
Of 83 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 108 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $57k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 108 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $57,986) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 83 |
| Released games | 165 |
| Announced | 108 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Quick-Time Events
- 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
- RPG, Quick-Time Events; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,917 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + IdlerFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + SportsFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + SamuraiPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Tomb Raider Game of the Year 2013 · $104M 
Ryse: Son of Rome 2014 · $11M 
Tales from the Borderlands 2021 · $9.1M 
STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition 2009 · $5.2M 
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered 2015 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tomb Raider Game of the Year | older | $19.99 | 173,270 95% | 5.2M | $104M (exactly $103,910,019) | Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral… (Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Feral Interactive (Mac), Nixxes) |
| | Ryse: Son of Rome | older | $9.99 | 38,308 87% | 1.1M | $11M (exactly $11,480,908) | Crytek |
| | Tales from the Borderlands | older | $19.99 | 15,101 93% | 453k | $9.1M (exactly $9,056,070) | Telltale Games |
| | STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition | older | $19.99 | 8,732 77% | 262k | $5.2M (exactly $5,236,580) | LucasArts |
| | Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered | older | $9.99 | 6,743 79% | 202k | $2.0M (exactly $2,020,877) | Quantic Dream, Aspyr Media (remastered… (Quantic Dream, Aspyr Media (remastered version)) |
 | Shenmue I & II | older | $29.99 | 2,144 89% | 64k | $1.9M (exactly $1,928,957) | D3T |
 | Card Shark | older | $19.99 | 2,965 90% | 89k | $1.8M (exactly $1,778,110) | Nerial |
 | Shenmue III | older | $29.99 | 1,028 75% | 31k | $925k (exactly $924,892) | YS NET |
 | Costume Quest | older | $9.99 | 2,606 95% | 78k | $781k (exactly $781,018) | Double Fine Productions |
 | The Use of Life | $19.99 | 764 90% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games | |
 | THE VIG | $17.99 | 488 90% | 15k | $263k (exactly $263,374) | 亦盈文化, 山与海工作室, 北京超带感 | |
 | Sorry! I surrounded beauty! | $5.99 | 344 82% | 10k | $62k (exactly $61,817) | Really Games | |
 | Twelves:Shadow | $12.99 | 154 35% | 4.6k | $60k (exactly $60,014) | JuLu Studio | |
 | 我的同事不对劲 | $8.99 | 215 89% | 6.5k | $58k (exactly $57,986) | 11J Studio | |
 | My Cute Roommate 2 | $24.99 | 76 59% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | Astaros3d | |
 | KunKunNest | $3.99 | 434 95% | 13k | $52k (exactly $51,950) | JNTM, KunKunRoom, 鸡你太美 | |
 | Nocan's Quest: Sex Gold Glory | $9.99 | 167 69% | 5.0k | $50k (exactly $50,050) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | Magin: The Rat Project Stories | $19.99 | 79 69% | 2.4k | $47k (exactly $47,376) | The Rat Project | |
 | Couple-Cultivation Saves the World | $7.99 | 196 59% | 5.9k | $47k (exactly $46,981) | Guns&Roses Studio |
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.