# Café Stella and the Reaper's Butterflies

> ResidualPlay case file: an overlooked Steam game still earning residual revenue. Estimates carry a ±30-50% error range per title.

- Steam appid: 1829980
- Developer: YUZUSOFT
- Publisher: NekoNyan Ltd.
- Released: 2022 · Genre: Adventure · List price: $34.99
- Deal grade: A (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $14.4k to $21.6k per month (mid $18.0k)
- Opportunity score: $37.8k/month at x2.10 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 172.7k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $1.5M
- Review sentiment: 98% positive across 6879 reviews (5397 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 82.5 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 2.5 years
- Studio active elsewhere (6 titles tracked), so this one may welcome a partner
- Last build shipped 4.4 years ago
- Store page localized in only 4 language(s)
- Last discounted 1 months ago, 7 sales in the last 12 months

## Where a gross dollar goes (monthly, at current velocity)

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $32.7k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $28.4k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $25.7k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $18.0k |

## Monthly review counts, oldest to newest (24 months)

194, 103, 125, 103, 110, 117, 170, 97, 58, 53, 126, 142, 139, 96, 83, 70, 148, 116, 117, 100, 60, 59, 62, 97

## Missed seasonal-sale revenue (modeled)

Skipped 3 Steam seasonal sale window(s) in the last 24 months. Running a -50% discount in those windows is modeled at +$33.0k net in total, assuming a unit uplift of x3.0 (industry-typical for old catalog titles). Same ±30-50% error range applies.

## Estimated acquisition range

$431.9k to $863.7k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $215.9k/year). Same error range applies.

## Markets by review language

- german: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- english: 7%
- koreana: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- russian: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- spanish: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)
- japanese: 2%
- schinese: 91%
- brazilian: 0% (game NOT localized in this language)

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

A 2022 Japanese visual novel about a reaper and café owner navigating romance and supernatural themes, published by NekoNyan Ltd.

Café Stella holds strong fundamentals: 97.8% positive Steam reviews, $1.5M lifetime revenue from 172K units, and persistent $18K/mo residual income despite no developer marketing in 30 months. The title is dormant rather than declining, suggesting a stable niche audience willing to pay full price ($35). Opportunity lies in localization expansion (Korean gap identified) and gentle merchandising or fan-content partnerships, rather than aggressive revival. Best fit: licensing partner seeking low-risk catalog depth or publisher evaluating visual-novel portfolio consolidation.

- Most realistic play: publishing
- Risk (market): Visual novel genre skews heavily toward existing enthusiast communities; mainstream audience penetration is structurally limited regardless of marketing spend.
- Risk (other): Developer communication inactive for 30 months; any update or localization would require new studio engagement or contractor support.
- Risk (tech): 49-month build cycle and lack of post-launch patches suggest limited agility for platform changes or content updates.

What players are asking for:
- Korean language localization (18 Korean reviews despite loc gap)
- Additional character routes or side stories
- Mobile or console ports

Suggested first moves:
1. Commission Korean localization and publish as regional re-release to capture $18K residual audience in underserved territory.
2. Evaluate visual-novel portfolio fit against other NekoNyan titles for bundling, cross-promotion or label-wide publishing consolidation.
3. Explore lightweight fan-content licensing (character merchandise, anthology comics) to monetize emotional attachment without requiring developer involvement.

Generated 2026-08-20 from public signals and player reviews. Directional, not diligence.

## Methodology

Units are estimated from Steam-purchase reviews times a release-cohort multiplier (Boxleiter method, 20-75x by year). Revenue uses an effective price (lifetime discounts and regional pricing) and nets out VAT (~13%), refunds (~9.5%) and Steam's 30% cut: roughly 55% of gross reaches the developer.

Source: https://residualplay.com/game/1829980
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.