It seems pretty logical to me; longer duration equals larger time investment and shorter audience retention rates—this is true in almost every medium (exempting those outlier works that aim to be immersive behemoths)—and therefore is harder for people to get through without becoming bored or getting distracted. This is doubly true for written word, something waning in popularity and out of place on the Steam store.
It is also at odds with the refund system, making it unlikely for anyone to buy it without being an already established Visual Novel fan, of which there isn’t a large amount on Steam.
Litbus itself also has other problems with retention, with many of the “highlight” moments of the VN being distributed unevenly, most of it being towards the end of a complete run. This is partially true of every VN following the Key formula, but Litbus suffers particularly so for having lackluster secondary conflicts.
People wouldn’t buy a 60 hour book on steam just because it had the monthly memes. That’s not how it works… A 3 hour game, that’ll have a moment in the sun. A 5 hours one could potentially do so too, but 60 hours of straight reading isn’t appealing to a market of people who don’t usually read, even if you throw in a fidget spinner.
Steam’s VN market is far from prestigious, but I think you’re assuming a lot about games you haven’t played. The best selling VNs on steam are far from low quality, and the humor of Litbus isn’t so far removed from memery.
It’s funny you make this comparison, because those two franchises and their respective audiences are so incredibly different from each other. Sakura VNs are short, Naruto is long. Sakura VNs are fairly niche while Naruto is mainstream as far as anime goes. Sakura VNs are touted as comical but enjoyable, and Naruto’s fanbase treats the series (for the most part) seriously and with respect. It should be noted that the Sakura franchise is heavily bolstered by the crazy amount of new content being made each year. Winged Cloud have developed 22 titles in just over three years, 20 of which include the Sakura branding. It’s no wonder it has become a recognizable name on the Steam Store. WC are just making good use of the Steam format by filling up the game lists.
If we were looking at what’s popular or “best selling” I’d be saying VNs that look to succeed on Steam should be like Danganronpa or one of the other big mystery adventure VNs on Steam. While I don’t like Danganronpa, my favorite VN is Kara no Shoujo, and they are very similar in many respects. So maybe yeah, Steam VNs should be like that.
On the other hand, if we’re going by what is reviewed the most highly, planetarian and Clannad are top dogs. The question is… Which is more important: popularity or ratings? I highly doubt a long VN will ever sell amazingly well in the west, never mind Japan, even though the sales of Litbus will no doubt be increased by the dual language feature. Do I think that matters? No. I think Key’s VNs exist on steam to breed and grow a nicely sized western audience, not to become a popular presence on Steam’s frontpage… Expecting anything more would be very ambitious, and Key most definitely know that. They want a foundation to rely on. They don’t want to just be a flash in the pan. Even back in the Tactics days, this dev team knew as such. That much is clear from what they develop, and more relevantly how they are pricing these steam releases. Many of the Key and VA staff have witnessed bubbles burst after all.
