Do I ship it?

Games › Automation › Automation + Character Customization

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Automation game?

Automation + Character Customization

Of 87 developers who shipped a Character Customization Automation game 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.. 138 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.6k, ×8.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×466 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 138 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 138 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Character Customization
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 87
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $32k → $599 → $8.5k → $140k → $24k → $21k → $9.0k (still earning) → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Character Customization: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 87
Bottom 30% $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Median $5.6k (exactly $5,571)
Top 25% $46k (exactly $45,554)
Top 5% $293k (exactly $292,507)
Developers, 2 yr 87
Released games 149
Announced 138
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 195% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Character Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Automation, Character Customization; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Crafting, RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 299,631 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $5.6k, 1 in 4 over $45k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 138 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Automation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Schedule I 2025 · EA · $173M Craftopia 2020 · EA · $13M Software Inc. 2015 · EA · $5.2M Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure 2025 · $1.7M Gamblers Table 2026 · $620k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Craftopia · EA older $24.99 17,705 76% 531k $13M (exactly $13,273,438) Pocketpair
Software Inc. · EA older $22.99 7,576 94% 227k $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) Coredumping
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure $29.99 1,867 82% 56k $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) Massive Miniteam
Gamblers Table $6.99 2,955 74% 89k $620k (exactly $619,664) greenpixels, Bossforge
Main Assembly older $19.99 1,004 83% 30k $602k (exactly $602,099) Bad Yolk Games
Crusaders Quest : Hero Town $6.99 2,564 76% 77k $538k (exactly $537,671) CQ LABS
AutoForge · EA older $24.99 439 86% 13k $329k (exactly $329,118) Siege Games
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Recipe for Disaster older $14.99 591 69% 18k $266k (exactly $265,773) Dapper Penguin Studios
Nomad Idle $9.99 852 64% 26k $255k (exactly $255,344) The Fox Knocks
The Boss Gangster: Criminal Empire · EA $18.99 385 81% 12k $219k (exactly $219,334) BEF GAMES
Pizza House Simulator🍕 $12.99 411 87% 12k $160k (exactly $160,167) Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games
Futanari★Coffee shop $13.99 357 91% 11k $150k (exactly $149,833) W77Games
Ritual of Raven $14.99 325 88% 9.8k $146k (exactly $146,152) Spellgarden Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.