Games › Strategy › Strategy + Romance
Should I ship a Romance Strategy game?
Strategy + Romance
Of 109 developers who shipped a Romance Strategy game 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.. 176 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $510; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1322 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 176 games are announced against 64 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $505 (exactly $505) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $50,375) |
| Top 5% | $830k (exactly $830,146) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 109 |
| Released games | 416 |
| Announced | 176 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 35% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Dating Sim, RPG, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Emotional, Cinematic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 279,244 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $510. 6 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 176 games are announced against 64 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Baldur's Gate 3 2023 · $1.4B 
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition 2017 · $244M 
Dispatch 2025 · $157M 
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard 2024 · $74M 
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition 2021 · $51M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Baldur's Gate 3 | older | $59.99 | 755,010 96% | 23M | $1.4B (exactly $1,358,791,497) | Larian Studios |
| | Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition | older | $44.99 | 180,782 95% | 5.4M | $244M (exactly $244,001,465) | Larian Studios |
| | Dispatch | $29.99 | 174,624 97% | 5.2M | $157M (exactly $157,109,213) | AdHoc Studio | |
| | Dragon Age™: The Veilguard | $59.99 | 41,393 67% | 1.2M | $74M (exactly $74,494,982) | BioWare | |
| | Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition | older | $49.99 | 34,157 83% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,225,253) | Owlcat Games |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader | older | $49.99 | 33,701 87% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $50,541,390) | Owlcat Games |
 | Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition | older | $29.99 | 28,721 85% | 862k | $26M (exactly $25,840,284) | BioWare |
 | The Sims™ 3 | older | $19.99 | 31,071 85% | 932k | $19M (exactly $18,633,279) | The Sims Studio, Maxis |
 | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
 | Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga | older | $19.99 | 12,880 94% | 386k | $7.7M (exactly $7,724,136) | Dancing Dragon Games |
 | 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 Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily | $29.99 | 1,529 85% | 46k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,641) | Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playgr… (Alliance Arts, One or Eight, WSS Playground) | |
 | Rebooted Fate | $14.99 | 1,846 95% | 55k | $830k (exactly $830,146) | Jilin miaomiao, 山与海工作室 | |
 | 极速营救 | $9.99 | 1,860 86% | 56k | $557k (exactly $557,442) | 优映文化, 想象颗粒 | |
 | Ledgerbound | $29.99 | 562 92% | 17k | $506k (exactly $505,631) | OmniMegaSuperCorp | |
 | 我打不过漂亮的她们 | $10.99 | 1,111 95% | 33k | $366k (exactly $366,297) | 想象颗粒 | |
 | 不心动才有鬼 | $6.99 | 1,482 96% | 44k | $311k (exactly $310,775) | SP 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.