Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Space
Should I ship a Space Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Space
Of 87 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 100 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×220 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 100 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $418 (exactly $418) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,794) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $138k (exactly $138,461) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 87 |
| Released games | 248 |
| Announced | 100 |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 6,616 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition 2021 · $6.5M 
GNOSIA 2022 · $3.6M 
New Tales from the Borderlands 2022 · $2.1M 
Kaiju Princess 2 2024 · $1.7M 
Aliya: Timelink 2024 · $770k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition | older | $24.99 | 8,722 96% | 262k | $6.5M (exactly $6,538,883) | SIGONO INC. |
| | GNOSIA | older | $24.99 | 4,855 93% | 146k | $3.6M (exactly $3,639,794) | Petit Depotto |
| | New Tales from the Borderlands | older | $39.99 | 1,737 29% | 52k | $2.1M (exactly $2,083,879) | Gearbox Software |
| | Kaiju Princess 2 | $17.99 | 3,107 96% | 93k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) | PantyParrot | |
| | Aliya: Timelink | older | $2.99 | 8,587 97% | 258k | $770k (exactly $770,254) | TDGame Studio |
 | OPUS: Rocket of Whispers | older | $14.99 | 1,430 92% | 43k | $643k (exactly $643,071) | SIGONO INC. |
 | OPUS: The Day We Found Earth | older | $14.99 | 1,404 87% | 42k | $631k (exactly $631,379) | SIGONO INC. |
 | A Sky Full of Stars 仰望夜空的星辰 | older | $17.99 | 940 97% | 28k | $507k (exactly $507,318) | MoeNovel |
 | The Symbiant | older | $19.99 | 785 95% | 24k | $471k (exactly $470,764) | HeartCoreDev |
 | Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition | older | $24.99 | 621 84% | 19k | $466k (exactly $465,564) | Love in Space |
 | Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog | $14.99 | 843 90% | 25k | $379k (exactly $379,097) | Space Colony Studios | |
 | Stellar Code | $24.98 | 448 97% | 13k | $336k (exactly $335,731) | Fragaria | |
 | 我的恋爱逃生攻略 Love to Live | $9.99 | 864 85% | 26k | $259k (exactly $258,941) | 番茄炖肉制作组 | |
 | Lightracer: For Judge | $9.99 | 462 92% | 14k | $138k (exactly $138,461) | Smartmelon Games | |
 | PASSIONERS | $9.99 | 285 62% | 8.6k | $85k (exactly $85,414) | CryoDreams Interactive | |
 | Milfy Way: Space Orgasm 🪐🔞 | $14.99 | 172 75% | 5.2k | $77k (exactly $77,348) | Pocket Rocket Studio 🚀 | |
 | Stellar Dream - Part 1 | $14.99 | 129 87% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Winterlook Games | |
 | LUST Company 👾 | $9.99 | 155 65% | 4.7k | $46k (exactly $46,454) | Taboo Tales 💘 | |
 | SEXSTELLAR | $9.99 | 151 67% | 4.5k | $45k (exactly $45,255) | Carnality INC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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