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Should I ship a Character Customization Arena Shooter?
Arena Shooter + Character Customization
Of 88 developers who shipped a Character Customization Arena Shooter in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 286 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×251 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 286 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 5% | $158k (exactly $157,845) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 88 |
| Released games | 295 |
| Announced | 286 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 55% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 29%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arena Shooter
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Arena Shooter, Character Customization; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, FPS
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 8,453 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 286 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arena Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + IncrementalFair
- + DemonsFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + CollectathonLong shot
- + DeckbuildingPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + Class-BasedPoor odds
- + Boomer ShooterPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + On-Rails ShooterPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
Comparable games
MADNESS: Project Nexus 2021 · $12M 
Abyssus 2025 · $3.8M 
Shotgun Farmers 2019 · $2.7M 
Strike Force Heroes 2023 · $2.5M 
Worms Rumble 2020 · $764k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MADNESS: Project Nexus | older | $24.99 | 15,977 97% | 479k | $12M (exactly $11,977,957) | GIBBING TREE, LLC |
| | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
| | Shotgun Farmers | older | $9.99 | 9,061 93% | 272k | $2.7M (exactly $2,715,582) | Megastorm Games |
| | Strike Force Heroes | older | $19.99 | 4,193 79% | 126k | $2.5M (exactly $2,514,542) | Sky9 Games |
| | Worms Rumble | older | $14.99 | 1,698 60% | 51k | $764k (exactly $763,591) | Team17 Digital |
 | AK-xolotl: Together | older | $18.99 | 1,094 75% | 33k | $623k (exactly $623,252) | 2Awesome Studio |
 | IRON REBELLION | $24.99 | 772 84% | 23k | $579k (exactly $578,768) | Black Beach Studio | |
 | Don't Stop, Girlypop! | $19.99 | 518 83% | 16k | $311k (exactly $310,645) | Funny Fintan Softworks | |
 | Black Ice | · EA older | $19.99 | 515 95% | 15k | $309k (exactly $308,846) | Nonadecimal Creative, Super Duper Garre… (Nonadecimal Creative, Super Duper Garrett Cooper) |
 | QuiVr | older | $19.99 | 482 88% | 14k | $289k (exactly $289,055) | Blueteak |
 | Genome Guardian 2 | · EA | $15.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $197k (exactly $196,677) | Alpherior |
 | CyberCorp | $14.99 | 351 75% | 11k | $158k (exactly $157,845) | Megame LLC | |
 | Voidborn | $12.99 | 349 81% | 10k | $136k (exactly $136,005) | Xekvera | |
 | Birds of War | $9.99 | 439 87% | 13k | $132k (exactly $131,568) | HexNest Games | |
 | Geometry Arena 2 | $5.99 | 381 88% | 11k | $68k (exactly $68,466) | 011 Games | |
 | Breach Protocol | $14.99 | 149 69% | 4.5k | $67k (exactly $67,005) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | Ultra Mega Cats | · EA | $11.99 | 70 74% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $25,179) | Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drak… (Fallen Leaf, Unseen Silence, Black Drakkar Games) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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