Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Romance
Should I ship a Romance Souls-like?
Souls-like + Romance
Only 10 developers shipped a Romance Souls-like in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Dark Queen of Mortholme, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $35k, ×23 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×407 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.5k (exactly $6,475) |
|---|---|
| Median | $35k (exactly $34,783) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $37,022) |
| Top 5% | $610k (exactly $610,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 10 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Romance
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like
- Price point
- $11.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 83% positive over 4,819 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.5k. 2 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
Comparable games
GreedFall 2019 · $19M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 1 2014 · $7.0M 
YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story 2020 · $5.4M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 3 2017 · $3.3M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 2 2016 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | GreedFall | older | $34.99 | 18,460 75% | 554k | $19M (exactly $19,377,462) | Spiders |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 1 | older | $9.99 | 23,405 95% | 702k | $7.0M (exactly $7,014,478) | NEKO WORKs |
| | YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story | older | $29.99 | 6,033 95% | 181k | $5.4M (exactly $5,427,890) | Nitroplus |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 3 | older | $9.99 | 11,153 96% | 335k | $3.3M (exactly $3,342,554) | NEKO WORKs |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 2 | older | $9.99 | 11,055 97% | 332k | $3.3M (exactly $3,313,184) | NEKO WORKs |
 | VR Kanojo / VRカノジョ | older | $49.99 | 1,767 76% | 53k | $2.6M (exactly $2,649,970) | ILLUSION |
 | Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne | older | $59.99 | 1,042 87% | 31k | $1.9M (exactly $1,875,287) | Chime Corporation |
 | Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim™ | older | $9.99 | 6,039 90% | 181k | $1.8M (exactly $1,809,888) | Psyop |
 | NEKOPARA Vol. 0 | older | $2.99 | 14,705 94% | 441k | $1.3M (exactly $1,319,038) | NEKO WORKs |
 | Chasing Tails ~A Promise in the Snow~ | older | $7.99 | 4,272 92% | 128k | $1.0M (exactly $1,023,998) | the last evil wizard, Nupu Neko Dev |
 | The Dark Queen of Mortholme | $4.99 | 4,075 83% | 122k | $610k (exactly $610,028) | Mosu | |
 | VR-Kanojo | $54.99 | 176 63% | 5.3k | $290k (exactly $290,347) | ILLUMINATION | |
 | Soul Mates | · EA | $12.99 | 95 97% | 2.9k | $37k (exactly $37,022) | Sad Panda Studios |
 | Sex With Friends | $4.99 | 236 94% | 7.1k | $35k (exactly $35,329) | B-Team | |
 | Big Beautiful Women: Giantess Dating Action | $19.99 | 58 93% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | Rakuen Soft | |
 | Beauty’s Target | $8.99 | 126 69% | 3.8k | $34k (exactly $33,982) | Beauty’s Target | |
 | Journey of the Garden Rose | $11.99 | 18 77% | 540 | $6.5k (exactly $6,475) | Renegade Sector Games | |
 | Plastic Lust | $3.99 | 29 79% | 870 | $3.5k (exactly $3,471) | Umbrelloid | |
 | Waifu Simulator | $4.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Slippy Floor | |
 | Zong | $59.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | 北京祐力东方科技有限公司 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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