The niche at a glance

FMV on Steam: 1,095 released games, 321 in the last 12 months, 338 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 68. 29% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 6%. FMV is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included539 releases
p100
p256
median68
p75341
p90983
29% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $7.99 · 6% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
25med 85 · 8% unseen
2020
60med 70 · 23% unseen
2021
88med 33 · 24% unseen
2022
83med 38 · 24% unseen
2023
95med 53 · 11% unseen
2024
163med 88 · 21% unseen
2025
197med 121 · 20% unseen
2026
229med 10 · 49% unseen · 79 too fresh

FMV × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with FMV at least 5 times · same window× setting× mechanics
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
FMV ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Dating Sim2288020728.9% 23%–35%27.2%
cliché ×8.1390 d
Revenge on gold diggers
Love Is All Around
Road to Empress I
Revenge on gold diggers · Love Is All Around · Road to Empress I
Female Protagonist1074318829.9% 22%–39%26.2%
cliché ×2.17127 d
Love Is All Around
Road to Empress I
Road to Empress Ⅱ
Love Is All Around · Road to Empress I · Road to Empress Ⅱ
Romance1534922428.8% 22%–36%26.2%
cliché ×4.40111 d
Revenge on gold diggers
Love Is All Around
Knowledge, or know Lady
Revenge on gold diggers · Love Is All Around · Knowledge, or know Lady
War132381under 2022.2%
ordinary ×0.70168 d
Tempest Rising
Command & Conquer™ Generals Zero Hour
The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth
Tempest Rising · Command & Conquer™ Generals Zero Hour · The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth
Mystery812118825.9% 18%–36%22.1%
cliché ×2.48277 d
Revenge on gold diggers
The Operator
Eclipsium
Revenge on gold diggers · The Operator · Eclipsium
Detective341211429.4% 17%–46%21.0%
cliché ×3.94293 d
The Operator
FLAM EVAW
Misty Judgment
The Operator · FLAM EVAW · Misty Judgment
Historical154126under 2021.0%
ordinary ×1.21400 d
Road to Empress I
咸鱼殿下 / My journey
Conquer the world
Road to Empress I · 咸鱼殿下 / My journey · Conquer the world
Military11244under 2020.4%
ordinary ×0.82211 d
Tempest Rising
Command & Conquer™ Generals Zero Hour
Conquer the world
Tempest Rising · Command & Conquer™ Generals Zero Hour · Conquer the world
Modern33816124.2% 13%–41%17.6%
cliché ×4.28169 d
Revenge on gold diggers
Tempest Rising
极速营救
Revenge on gold diggers · Tempest Rising · 极速营救
Crime22812027.3% 13%–48%17.5%
cliché ×4.01117 d
The Operator
Peeping Dorm Manager
Misty Judgment
The Operator · Peeping Dorm Manager · Misty Judgment
Robots52507under 2017.3%
ordinary ×0.42215 d
我的机器人女友
Don't Stop, Girlypop!
Escape from the Room of the Serving Doll
我的机器人女友 · Don't Stop, Girlypop! · Escape from the Room of the Serving Doll
Alternate History172129under 2017.1%
cliché ×2.22168 d
Home Safety Hotline
The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth
Ratten Reich
Home Safety Hotline · The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth · Ratten Reich
Sci-fi431411720.9% 11%–35%16.4%
ordinary ×1.28211 d
Love is All Around 2
City Lights Love Bites Season 0 [Pilot Season]
Tomorrow's Love Puzzle
Love is All Around 2 · City Lights Love Bites Season 0 [Pilot Season] · Tomorrow's Love Puzzle
1990's32115921.9% 11%–39%16.0%
cliché ×2.43166 d
Vanity Fair: The Pursuit
Home Safety Hotline
Forbidden Solitaire
Vanity Fair: The Pursuit · Home Safety Hotline · Forbidden Solitaire
Thriller421310119.0% 10%–33%15.1%
cliché ×3.18137 d
The Operator
Eclipsium
SubZero
The Operator · Eclipsium · SubZero
21 pairings cleared 20 releases; 88 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.7% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.