Do I ship it?

GamesVisual NovelVisual Novel + Transhumanism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Transhumanist Visual Novel?

Visual Novel + Transhumanism

Of 37 developers who shipped a Transhumanist 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.. 43 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $52k, ×110 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 43 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 43 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Visual Novel + Transhumanism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $13k → $17k → $419 → $3.0k → $1.9k → $178 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Visual Novel + Transhumanism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,195)
Top 5% $52k (exactly $52,479)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 89
Announced 43
Effort 4 / 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 down 70% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Transhumanism
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Visual Novel; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Interactive Fiction
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Lore-Rich, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 5,648 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $600, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $52k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 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
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action older $14.99 33,838 97% 1.0M $15M (exactly $15,216,949) Sukeban Games
Nunholy $7.99 5,150 88% 155k $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455) Chowbie
State of Mind older $19.99 1,548 76% 46k $928k (exactly $928,336) Daedalic Entertainment
Lightracer Spark older $12.99 970 83% 29k $378k (exactly $378,009) Smartmelon Games
Cockwork Industries Complete older $9.99 864 76% 26k $259k (exactly $258,941) Digital Seductions
War of the Human Tanks older $9.99 339 91% 10k $102k (exactly $101,598) Yakiniku Banzai
Ceiba older $6.99 255 94% 7.7k $53k (exactly $53,474) Wirion, 7DOTS
Max's Big Bust 2 - Max's Bigger Bust older $29.99 59 94% 1.8k $53k (exactly $53,082) Lached Up Games
Mars Vice $24.99 70 97% 2.1k $52k (exactly $52,479) Rho Labyrinths GmbH
Panthalassa $13.99 98 97% 2.9k $41k (exactly $41,131) Meia Calça
Songs of Rats $14.99 50 78% 1.5k $22k (exactly $22,485) Tesseract Games
春はあけぼの、我はバケモノ。 - Spring at Dawn, I Am a Monster. $9.99 75 64% 2.3k $22k (exactly $22,478) CHARON, STUDIO CHARON
A Moment of Bliss $7.99 87 90% 2.6k $21k (exactly $20,854) Keys to My Lockheart
DATING OF THE FUTURE $15.99 43 90% 1.3k $21k (exactly $20,627) geoWaffle
Veins Like Tapeworms $19.99 20 95% 600 $12k (exactly $11,994) AwesomeTrinket
The Queen of Phalli $9.99 39 87% 1.2k $12k (exactly $11,688) Labor of Love
Neofeud 2 $14.99 16 93% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) Silver Spook Games

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