Visual novels
A tough niche: many competitors for the demand that exists. Average across 5 platforms: niche 36/100, demand 48/100, competition 57/100, development cost 27/100. On Steam: 6,178 games and 30,910 players online; 17% of games reach 500+ reviews, average spend per player is $9.26.
Niche
36/100
Demand (0–100)
48/100
Competition
57/100
Dev cost
27/100
Spend per player
$9.26
Hit rate (500+ reviews)
17%
Key findings
- Ranked #93 of 100 in the overall niche ranking.
- The niche looks best on itch.io (40/100) and weakest on Yandex Games (31/100).
- Competition is at a typical level: 57/100 vs a median of 57/100.
- Development is cheaper than typical: index 27/100 vs a median of 39/100 — the genre is within reach of a small team.
- On Steam, 17% of games reached 500+ reviews — about usual (median 16%).
- Small-studio games make up 56% of all Steam games with this tag.
By platform
| Platform | Popularity | Games / leaders’ share | Competition | Niche | Dev cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 50/100 | 6,178 | 74/100 | 37/100 | 34/100 |
| itch.io | 100/100 | 53,034 | 84/100 | 40/100 | 23/100 |
| Yandex Games | 10/100 | 29 | 0/100 | 31/100 | 25/100 |
| Google Play | 46/100 | 80% | 69/100 | 38/100 | 28/100 |
| App Store | 33/100 | 65% | 58/100 | 37/100 | 28/100 |
Example games — Steam
AAA / big hits
Persona 3 ReloadATLUS · $59.99
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney TrilogyCAPCOM Co., Ltd. · $29.99
Danganronpa V3: Killing HarmonySpike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. · $39.99
Indie
Doki Doki Literature Club!Team Salvato · free
Mirror 2: Project XKAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs · $1.99
Volcano Princess养蛋人 Egg Hatcher · $10.99
Related genres
Data updated October 12, 2026 Methodology