Should I ship a Western RPG?
RPG + Western
Of 29 developers who shipped a Western 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.. 53 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.9k, ×9.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×405 the market median. Revenue is up 245% on the market; 53 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.9k (exactly $5,940) |
| Top 25% | $55k (exactly $55,313) |
| Top 5% | $254k (exactly $254,273) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 111 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 245% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Open World, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,493 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
RPG with a different setting or mood, 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
Fallout: New Vegas 2010 · $63M 
Evil West 2022 · $15M 
Weird West: Definitive Edition 2022 · $4.8M 
Blood West 2023 · $4.6M 
This Land Is My Land 2021 · $3.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fallout: New Vegas | older | $9.99 | 211,748 95% | 6.4M | $63M (exactly $63,460,876) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | Weird West: Definitive Edition | older | $39.99 | 3,962 77% | 119k | $4.8M (exactly $4,753,211) | WolfEye Studios |
| | Blood West | older | $24.99 | 6,132 90% | 184k | $4.6M (exactly $4,597,160) | Hyperstrange |
| | This Land Is My Land | older | $29.99 | 4,248 68% | 127k | $3.8M (exactly $3,821,926) | Game-Labs |
 | Outlaws of the Old West | · EA older | $19.99 | 5,584 58% | 168k | $3.3M (exactly $3,348,725) | Virtual Basement LLC |
 | West of Loathing | older | $10.99 | 9,716 97% | 291k | $3.2M (exactly $3,203,365) | Asymmetric |
 | Hard West | older | $19.99 | 4,103 74% | 123k | $2.5M (exactly $2,460,569) | CreativeForge Games |
 | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
 | SteamWorld Dig | older | $9.99 | 6,509 94% | 195k | $2.0M (exactly $1,950,747) | Image & Form Games |
 | Unbridled: That Horse Game | · EA | $24.99 | 487 85% | 15k | $365k (exactly $365,104) | Mind Evotion Games |
 | Wild Indigo Ranch | $19.99 | 424 68% | 13k | $254k (exactly $254,273) | Funday Games | |
 | Tombwater | $24.99 | 282 92% | 8.5k | $211k (exactly $211,415) | Moth Atlas | |
 | Rosewater | $19.99 | 348 91% | 10k | $209k (exactly $208,696) | Grundislav Games | |
 | Cattle Country | $18.99 | 335 86% | 10k | $191k (exactly $190,849) | Castle Pixel, LLC. | |
 | Golden Chambers | · EA | $19.99 | 195 80% | 5.9k | $117k (exactly $116,941) | Mr. Pink |
 | Western Rye | · EA | $21.99 | 104 53% | 3.1k | $69k (exactly $68,609) | Nixalon Studios |
 | Deadrock Redemption 2 | $14.99 | 123 86% | 3.7k | $55k (exactly $55,313) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | Frontier Legends | · EA | $29.99 | 57 40% | 1.7k | $51k (exactly $51,283) | Neojac Entertainment Inc. |
 | DEAD END COLOSSEUM SS | $10.99 | 138 83% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $45,499) | TLACHTLI |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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