Steam tag
Estimated revenue, market economics, and the top games tagged Visual Novel on Steam.
Share of Visual Novel games by estimated lifetime revenue. Averages hide this — a few hits pull the mean far above what a typical game in the genre makes.
For developers
Total estimated revenue of Visual Novel games, grouped by the year they launched — a release-cohort trend, not a live time-series. Recent years are still accumulating revenue after launch.
Modeled estimate, not reported sales
| Year | Releases | Median rev | $100k+ | $1M+ | Total genre revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.4K | approximately $466 | approximately 6% | approximately 1% | approximately $57.3M |
| 2025 | 1.4K | approximately $983 | approximately 7% | approximately 1% | approximately $82.8M |
| 2024 | 1.1K | approximately $756 | approximately 6% | approximately 1% | approximately $66.7M |
| 2023 | 828 | approximately $1.2K | approximately 7% | approximately 2% | approximately $89.6M |
| 2022 | 697 | approximately $1.3K | approximately 6% | approximately 2% | approximately $48.2M |
| 2021 | 591 | approximately $1.6K | approximately 8% | approximately 3% | approximately $99.2M |
| 2020 | 439 | approximately $1.7K | approximately 12% | approximately 2% | approximately $104.2M |
| 2019 | 275 | approximately $1.8K | approximately 9% | approximately 2% | approximately $44.8M |
| 2018 | 277 | approximately $3K | approximately 10% | approximately 2% | approximately $55.1M |
| 2017 | 177 | approximately $7.3K | approximately 18% | approximately 5% | approximately $58.9M |
| 2016 | 173 | approximately $10.2K | approximately 16% | approximately 5% | approximately $71.1M |
| 2015 | 95 | approximately $13.1K | approximately 18% | approximately 2% | approximately $14.3M |
Median beats average here: genre revenue is hit-driven, so the median shows what the typical Visual Novel launch actually earned. Recent years accumulate revenue for a while after launch.
Leaderboard
| # | Game | Est. revenue | Reviews | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | approximately $36.3M | 57.2K | 94% | $24.99 | |
| 2 | Persona 4 GoldenSteam | approximately $31.7M | 87.5K | 97% | $19.99 |
| 3 | Library Of RuinaSteam | approximately $29M | 45.2K | 94% | $29.99 |
| 4 | approximately $25M | 47.3K | 97% | $49.99 | |
| 5 | approximately $20.6M | 34.3K | 97% | $8.99 | |
| 6 | The Walking DeadSteam | approximately $20.6M | 80.7K | 97% | $14.99 |
| 7 | approximately $20.2M | 8.7K | 88% | $48.99 | |
| 8 | approximately $19.4M | 38.7K | 97% | $14.99 | |
| 9 | approximately $17.1M | 45.1K | 98% | $29.99 | |
| 10 | approximately $14.4M | 53K | 96% | $19.99 | |
| 11 | approximately $13.9M | 23.4K | 83% | $39.99 | |
| 12 | STEINS;GATESteam | approximately $13.6M | 27.1K | 97% | $29.99 |
| 13 | Volcano PrincessSteam | approximately $13.1M | 49.2K | 98% | $10.99 |
| 14 | The Wolf Among UsSteam | approximately $12.7M | 40.3K | 98% | $12.74 |
| 15 | approximately $12.4M | 13.3K | 90% | $49.99 | |
| 16 | approximately $12M | 38.8K | 96% | $19.99 | |
| 17 | Senren＊BankaSteam | approximately $11.8M | 37.2K | 98% | $34.99 |
| 18 | Super Robot Wars 30Steam | approximately $10.8M | 6.5K | 86% | $59.99 |
| 19 | approximately $9.6M | 39.5K | 96% | $11.99 | |
| 20 | approximately $8.4M | 60.1K | 94% | $6.29 | |
| 21 | Night in the WoodsSteam | approximately $6.4M | 20.3K | 95% | $19.99 |
| 22 | approximately $6.4M | 12.2K | 70% | $19.99 | |
| 23 | approximately $6.1M | 19.6K | 94% | $14.99 | |
| 24 | Esoteric EbbSteam | approximately $5.8M | 9.7K | 95% | $24.99 |
| 25 | Until ThenSteam | approximately $5.6M | 19.4K | 97% | $19.99 |
| 26 | approximately $5.5M | 15.6K | 90% | $9.99 | |
| 27 | approximately $5.4M | 4.9K | 83% | $39.99 | |
| 28 | Digimon SurviveSteam | approximately $5.1M | 3.1K | 79% | $59.99 |
| 29 | approximately $5.1M | 12.3K | 94% | $14.99 | |
| 30 | approximately $5M | 18.6K | 83% | $14.99 | |
| 31 | FireworkSteam | approximately $4.7M | 44.5K | 98% | $9.99 |
| 32 | approximately $4.4M | 21.3K | 97% | $14.99 | |
| 33 | SUPER ROBOT WARS YSteam | approximately $4.3M | 2.8K | 83% | $35.99 |
| 34 | approximately $4.2M | 13.1K | 88% | $19.99 | |
| 35 | The OperatorSteam | approximately $4.2M | 8.9K | 92% | $13.99 |
| 36 | approximately $4.2M | 4.9K | 96% | $24.99 | |
| 37 | SuzerainSteam | approximately $4.1M | 11.9K | 92% | $19.99 |
| 38 | PyreSteam | approximately $3.9M | 9.4K | 90% | $19.99 |
| 39 | UNBEATABLESteam | approximately $3.9M | 7.7K | 92% | $27.99 |
| 40 | Soul Hackers 2Steam | approximately $3.8M | 3.3K | 66% | $59.99 |
| 41 | Her StorySteam | approximately $3.7M | 10.4K | 89% | $9.99 |
| 42 | GNOSIASteam | approximately $3.6M | 5.1K | 94% | $24.99 |
| 43 | Magical PrincessSteam | approximately $3.5M | 8.2K | 97% | $11.99 |
| 44 | approximately $3.4M | 8.7K | 97% | $29.99 | |
| 45 | approximately $3.3M | 7.3K | 95% | $9.99 | |
| 46 | approximately $3.3M | 7.4K | 93% | $29.99 | |
| 47 | The ThaumaturgeSteam | approximately $3.2M | 6K | 83% | $34.99 |
| 48 | approximately $3.2M | 4K | 95% | $49.99 | |
| 49 | Mirror 2: Project XSteam | approximately $3.2M | 115.6K | 24% | $1.99 |
| 50 | SanfuSteam | approximately $3.2M | 17.9K | 83% | $10.99 |