Budgets of various visual novels 2017-2023

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• Reddit post discussing the pricing of a visual novel made by a young, inexperienced developer.
• Developer plans to create a visual novel featuring 5 routes, ~9 hours each, with a total of 40 CGs, royalty-free medieval-like music, and 4 H-scenes.
• Uncertainty as to how much the developer should charge for the game is discussed in the comments.
• One commenter suggests that the developer releases their first game for free to build a reputation and to attract new players. (8 karma)
• Other commenters warn the developer that the visual novel scene is currently flooded, and they should focus on creating excellent content in order to stand out. (8 karma)
• Another recommends that the developer offer a reasonable price, such as $15, and create a demo to lure potential customers in. (6 karma)
• Commenters suggest that an inexperienced developer is unlikely to get more than $15 for their game, as competition is strenuous.
• It is brought up that there is an audience for games that feature graphic adult content, but that developers can’t price information that is inappropriate for minors.
• Users raise concerns about the age of the developer, who is only 16 at the time of posting. This presents legal risks when handling adult content and paying an adult artist to create the visual novel.
• One user suggests crowd-sourcing an investment via Kickstarter or Indiegogo, as long as it is marketed well.
• Another realizes that 50 hours of gameplay may be too ambitious for a first-time developer’s game. (1 karma)
• There is discussion about calculating the cost of production and breaking even with different price points. (2 karma)
• It is mentioned that demos are essential for showcasing the game and demonstrating to customers the author’s writing and character development abilities. (7 karma)
• Users recommend keeping the price point of an indie, unknown visual novel to $15 or below.
• There is little discussion of budgets for various visual novels from 2017-2023 on this webpage.

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• Visual novel engines:
  • Kirikiri is a popular engine in Japan but has issues with non-Japanese text and limited non-Japanese documentation.
  • Ren’Py is the most used engine outside of Japan and is free and open-source. It is easy to use for writers without a programming background.
  • Visual Novel Maker and Tyrannobuilder are point-and-click interface engines that provide a more traditional game development experience but need to be paid for.
  • Unity, Godot, and Unreal also offer visual novel templates and tools for a general-purpose game engine.
  • Twine is a web-based engine for creating visual novels.
• Visual programming:
  • Visual programming has its limits but can be a viable option for a traditional and limited genre like visual novels.
• Web-based game engines:
  • It is difficult to monetize web engines. People are less willing to pay for the service or put up with ads.
  • Players using the browsers are generally less willing to pay than players using an app.
• Demographics:
  • One user asked about age and gender but was denied.
• The post was created 11 months ago and has two upvotes and one downvote.

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I’m sorry, but the original Reddit post and its comments are the only things on the webpage that are relevant to your query on the budgets of various visual novels from 2017-2023, and they provide a limited amount of information on the subject. This is all of the information that is available on the webpage, so there is nothing else for me to take notes on.

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• Sprites usually range from about $80-120 for a pose + $10 per facial expressions and new poses run approximately $50 more per. So for a character that has three poses, it would cost around $300-400 per character.
• Backgrounds tend to cost $50 for basic backgrounds to $100 for basic cgs/more complex backgrounds to $500 for more complex CGs.
• To create a visual novel with ~30 CGs, it would cost around $8,000 to $10,000 for the creation of all art assets, depending on the quality.
• Writers tend to be cheap, and editor and proofers range from $3,000 to $5,000.
• Music for digital mixing is about $100 per minute, so typically about $200 on average per track.
• Vocal tracks need to be commissioned to a band/singer for which it can run around $5,000 or more for a couple of songs.
• Programmers’ costs vary depending on how basic the game is in design. A cut and dry VN can cost around $1,000-2000 for a program to run it, and a multiple-choice effect can cost around $1,000, depending on how complex it is.
• Voice acting costs a considerable amount, around $50,000 or more for an entire visual novel with voices.
• For alternatives, Necrobarista is an example of another approach that managed their funds using 3D models and environments, music grants from Australia.
• Professional VN industry companies like JAST, MangaGamer, Sekai Project would be more intimate with the VN scene, helping plan a reasonable budget.
• There is no single answer to the cost of making sprites or backgrounds for a visual novel, and the pricing is typically variable and entirely up to the person’s resourcefulness in negotiating costs and working around those costs.
• Artists’ pricing ranges from $20-$2,000 or more for one illustration.
• It’s possible to find artists who will draw an entire novel for less than $2,000, but deviantART-tier art comes at this price, and the quality may not be what people expect.
• The discussed pricing is just an estimate, and the cost could differ based on the artist’s profile, demands, work style, and more.

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• A Reddit thread titled “How much does making a VN cost. And what are the profits.”
• The thread is 3 years old and has 7 upvotes.
• It is noted that the answer to the question is long and complicated. It depends on factors such as translating an existing VN with no new artwork or creating a VN from scratch.
• The costs for EVNs and JPVNs differ and creating a VN from scratch is more expensive.
• Doujin games like “Watashi wa kyou koko de shinimasu” that are released for free have very little cost since they use free music.
• High budget VNs like those produced by Minori can cost upwards of a million dollars.
• VNs with royalty-free and self-made artwork cost less than those with professional artwork. The price and resolution of assets can affect costs.
• Profit margins for VNs are not typically shared publicly. If a VN has a fandisk, it may be assumed that it turned a profit.
• The success of indie VNs varies, and profits do not usually surpass costs.
• A graphics tablet is necessary, and costs can increase depending on how much outsourcing is necessary.
• Many indie VN kickstarters ask for a few thousand dollars.
• The VN industry is described as dwindling with many companies undergoing financial hardship.
• The cost of hiring a translator can depend on their experience and the amount of text that requires translation.
• BlueMica describes the costs of creating a VN. These include: character designs, character sprites, background images, CG, GUI, sound effects, music creation and a storyline.
• The cost can vary depending on the experience of the individual producer, the quality of the assets and number of assets needed.
• The initial costs of foundational requirements such as learning game engines, creating a team, and establishing funding may also vary.
• Delphinian discusses how the cost of creating a VN from scratch can depend on the “scale of things”, an example of a lower-cost project can be seen in her own VN with art commissions totaling $2900.
• Mamystraum’s comment includes some figures derived from his personal project. For his game, code creation was the most expensive. Over 2 years development, $100 was spent on artist consultation, coding totalled $512. A high-quality music commission with an experienced composer was $2000, with sound effects and debugging clocking at $200 each.
• 1igurd notes that “if you’re just interested in getting your work

• The post on Reddit discusses the varying prices and quality of visual novels available on platforms like Steam, and how consumers have different expectations for different price points.

• The author highlights the presence of multiple options available in the $10 bracket, with diverse content and quality such as the 3-4 hours kinetic Planetarian, high-quality catgirl eroge Nekopara, political parody Stay! Stay! Democratic Republic of Korea, and strategical management VN Gaokao.Love.

• Additionally, the author states that there are VNs that come with boggling prices and quality, such as recently released Getaway Island.

• The author points out that even though visual novels priced at $5 or lower do not generally deliver premium quality, several hidden gems are available in the market.

• The comments section has discussions regarding the prices of visual novels in different countries such as Australia and Japan, with some attributing it to market demand and supply while others pointing at protective tariffs and government overreach.

• Some comments mention the higher prices of Japanese eroge as compared to cheaper western visual novels, and how it’s due to Japan having a bigger market for visual novels.

• The commenters argue the fact that larger markets usually have lower equilibrium prices due to economies of scale, so there seems to be disagreement regarding the relationship between market size and VN prices.

• The majority opinion among the commenters is that prices of visual novels depend mainly on the quality, content, and intended audience. For example, games with more replayability, long gameplay hours, and attention to detail in design can justify higher prices, while short meme games at 4 hours and poorer visual quality cannot.

• The game developers of Stay! Stay! Democratic People’s Republic of Korea suggest that games like their own were not designed for the visual novel crowd but for general gamers as a comedy/meme game, and they believe the lower yet reasonable price of $10 is a perfect price point for that target audience.

• Overall, the post and comments underline how prices of visual novels depend solely on specific factors, such as the game’s intent, quality, content, and target audience and aren’t influenced much by factors like market size.

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• The Reddit thread is titled “So, 2022 is over! What was your best VN this year? And what are you most looking forward to reading in 2023?” and was posted in the r/visualnovels subreddit.
• A user recommends Cyanotype Daydream, a VN that they started reading on a whim and ended up enjoying so much that it may be one of their top 10 VNs of all time. It contains elements of mystery, sci-fi, and romance with a dash of nakige. They recommend installing the restoration patch for the English version, which fixes alterations made during localization and removes the H-scenes.
• Another user recommends Raging Loop for its high-stakes choices and difficult decisions. They hope to read AI: The Somnium Files, Tokyo Necro, and IroSeka in 2023.
• Another user recommends White Album 2 IC but mentions that they struggle to describe why they loved it so much.
• A user that has not been much of a reader but finally got into VNs this year recommends the Utawarerumono series and plans to read the original Fate/Stay Night in Japanese in 2023.
• Another user recommends The House in Fata Morgana as their best read of the past year and mentions they plan to read Kara no Shoujo, Clannad, and the Flowers series in the coming years.
• In response to a comment about the restoration patch for Cyanotype Daydream, a user suggests pirating the game to not support censorship.
• Another user responds that the censorship was made by the original author who hated the H-scenes, not by translators.
• A user recommends Kara no Shoujo, saying it was a truly memorable experience.
• A user clarifies that AI: The Somnium Files is not a VN, but still plans to play it.
• One user asks for a spoiler tag, and another user adds one.
• One user expresses concern about localizers making story alterations and censorship, while another user doesn’t mind censorship as long as it doesn’t affect the story.

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💭  Looking into

Average visual novel game budget by year from 2017-2023

💭  Looking into

Top 5 visual novel games with the highest and lowest budgets