Do I ship it?

GamesVisual NovelVisual Novel + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Visual Novel?

Visual Novel + Robots

Of 45 developers who shipped a Robot 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.. 55 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $99k, ×159 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 55 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 55 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Visual Novel + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $15k → $7.8k → $4.2k → $6.1k → $5.8k → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Visual Novel + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 25% $9.2k (exactly $9,232)
Top 5% $100k (exactly $99,901)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 144
Announced 55
Effort 5 / 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 10% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Visual Novel
effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choose Your Own Adventure, Dating Sim
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,467 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 $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $9.2k, 1 in 20 over $99k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds166 devs · median $54k · 146 announced
  2. + City BuilderStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  3. + MusicStrong odds27 devs · median $18k · 24 announced
  4. + TrainsStrong odds12 devs · median $8.0k · 5 announced
  5. + Souls-likeFair25 devs · median $27k · 17 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair20 devs · median $22k · 19 announced
  7. + RhythmFair38 devs · median $18k · 52 announced
  8. + JRPGFair219 devs · median $13k · 265 announced
  9. + Immersive SimFair399 devs · median $7.8k · 453 announced
  10. + SwordplayFair13 devs · median $5.7k · 10 announced
  11. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $5.7k · 12 announced
  12. + DiplomacyFair16 devs · median $5.4k · 19 announced

All 188 pairs on the Visual Novel page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ATRI -My Dear Moments- older $20.99 21,411 98% 642k $13M (exactly $13,482,507) Frontwing, 枕
Super Robot Wars 30 older $59.99 5,608 85% 168k $10M (exactly $10,092,718) Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc.
New Gundam Breaker older $49.99 1,706 45% 51k $2.6M (exactly $2,558,488) CRAFTS & MEISTER Co., Ltd.
Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- older $9.99 7,777 95% 233k $2.3M (exactly $2,330,767) Modern Visual Arts Laboratory, SEO INSE… (Modern Visual Arts Laboratory, SEO INSEOK)
Stella of The End older $19.99 2,858 97% 86k $1.7M (exactly $1,713,943) VisualArts/Key
Projekt: Passion - Season 1 older $11.99 3,501 92% 105k $1.3M (exactly $1,259,310) Classy Lemon
planetarian HD older $9.99 3,197 98% 96k $958k (exactly $958,141) VisualArts/Key
State of Mind older $19.99 1,548 76% 46k $928k (exactly $928,336) Daedalic Entertainment
ROBOTICS;NOTES ELITE older $34.99 698 90% 21k $733k (exactly $732,691) MAGES. Inc.
Robolife-Days with Aino older $14.99 1,387 91% 42k $624k (exactly $623,734) Barance Studio
Sexbot $14.99 723 86% 22k $325k (exactly $325,133) Llamamann Games
ToHeart $19.99 313 87% 9.4k $188k (exactly $187,706) AQUAPLUS
Robot girl's dream -RobotBattleChampionship- $16.99 196 95% 5.9k $100k (exactly $99,901) DeskClub Games
BatteryNote $11.99 203 98% 6.1k $73k (exactly $73,019) 72studio
Steel Century Groove $19.99 98 94% 2.9k $59k (exactly $58,771) Sloth Gloss Games
Train and Tame $9.99 184 65% 5.5k $55k (exactly $55,145) Tames Games
My Furry Protogen 3 🐾 $4.99 221 95% 6.6k $33k (exactly $33,084) Dirty Fox Games
planetarian: Snow Globe $3.99 273 95% 8.2k $33k (exactly $32,678) VISUAL ARTS/Key
My Protogen Engineer ⚙️ $4.99 213 97% 6.4k $32k (exactly $31,886) Dirty Fox Games
DATING OF THE FUTURE $15.99 43 90% 1.3k $21k (exactly $20,627) geoWaffle

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