Do I ship it?

GamesTurn-BasedTurn-Based + Visual Novel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Visual Novel Turn-Based game?

Turn-Based + Visual Novel

Only 9 developers shipped a Visual Novel Turn-Based game 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, Sora no Kiseki the 1st, 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 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $55k, ×88 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $9.3M, ×14916 the market median. Revenue is up 525% on the market; 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 87.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 525% on the market, 16 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based + Visual Novel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Turn-Based + Visual Novel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $3.2k (exactly $3,237)
Median $55k (exactly $55,172)
Top 25% $231k (exactly $230,992)
Top 5% $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 101
Announced 16
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $19.99

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 525% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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.

Turn-Based
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Visual Novel
effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based, Visual Novel
Price point
$19.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 15,428 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.3k, median $55k, 1 in 4 over $230k, 1 in 20 over $9.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.3k. 6 in 10 of the 5 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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds13 devs · median $60k · 10 announced
  2. + DragonsStrong odds7 devs · median $53k · 7 announced
  3. + Hack and SlashStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  4. + SandboxFair20 devs · median $224k · 19 announced
  5. + HorrorFair16 devs · median $32k · 18 announced
  6. + CraftingFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  8. + Perma DeathFair49 devs · median $10k · 57 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  10. + ChessFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  11. + Tower DefensePoor odds9 devs · median $294k · 7 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds16 devs · median $193k · 26 announced

All 110 pairs on the Turn-Based page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Persona 4 Golden older $19.99 71,306 97% 2.1M $43M (exactly $42,762,208) ATLUS
Library Of Ruina older $29.99 40,605 94% 1.2M $37M (exactly $36,532,318) ProjectMoon
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition older $49.99 10,810 89% 324k $16M (exactly $16,211,757) h.a.n.d., Inc., Media.Vision Inc.
Super Robot Wars 30 older $59.99 5,608 85% 168k $10M (exactly $10,092,718) Bandai Namco Forge Digitals Inc.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales older $19.99 15,665 89% 470k $9.4M (exactly $9,394,300) CD PROJEKT RED
Sora no Kiseki the 1st $59.99 5,205 97% 156k $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438) Nihon Falcom
Esoteric Ebb $24.99 8,719 95% 262k $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) Christoffer Bodegård
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 older $14.99 10,135 94% 304k $4.6M (exactly $4,557,710) IDEA FACTORY Co., Ltd., COMPILE HEART C… (IDEA FACTORY Co., Ltd., COMPILE HEART Co., Ltd., FELISTELLA Co., Ltd.)
Soul Hackers 2 older $59.99 2,300 65% 69k $4.1M (exactly $4,139,310) ATLUS
Banner of the Maid older $16.99 6,580 86% 197k $3.4M (exactly $3,353,826) Azure Flame Studio
The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- $57.99 765 77% 23k $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) Nihon Falcom
Crown Gambit $17.99 428 94% 13k $231k (exactly $230,992) WILD WITS GAMES
Wander Stars $24.99 148 92% 4.4k $111k (exactly $110,956) Paper Castle Games
Infinity: HexaDome Tactics $19.99 92 75% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) Blindspot Games
VED $19.99 53 79% 1.6k $32k (exactly $31,784) Karaclan
HALF-BAKED GIRLS $11.99 9 88% 270 $3.2k (exactly $3,237) MISTROLE
Honoiro no Jikou 穗色时光 $19.99 4 75% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,399) Shanghai Yaxian Huizhi Technology Co.,… (Shanghai Yaxian Huizhi Technology Co., Ltd.)
神的名字 $8.99 5 20% 150 $1.3k (exactly $1,348) ciallo

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