Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Card Game
Should I ship a Character Customization Card Game?
Character Customization + Card Game
Of 61 developers who shipped a Character Customization Card 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.. 123 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×393 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 123 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,580) |
| Top 5% | $247k (exactly $246,566) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 182 |
| Announced | 123 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 up 30% on the market, supply 55% 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.
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Card Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization, Card Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Roguelite
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 27,417 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 123 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Customization with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Real-TimeStrong odds
- + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + BikesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + TypingFair
Comparable games
Marvel's Midnight Suns 2022 · $31M 
Gamble With Your Friends 2026 · $4.5M 
School Days 2026 · $2.7M 
Esports Godfather 2024 · $2.6M 
SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION 2019 · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marvel's Midnight Suns | older | $59.99 | 17,060 82% | 512k | $31M (exactly $30,702,882) | Firaxis Games |
| | Gamble With Your Friends | $7.99 | 18,883 89% | 566k | $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) | TEAM GWYF | |
| | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
| | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION | older | $59.99 | 1,404 82% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) | Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.) |
 | THE GAME OF LIFE 2 | older | $12.49 | 3,702 78% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Just Go | older | $9.99 | 3,227 92% | 97k | $967k (exactly $967,132) | Studio Amateur |
 | Warhammer Underworlds - Shadespire Edition (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 1,059 70% | 32k | $953k (exactly $952,782) | Steel Sky Productions, Tin Man Games |
 | The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game - Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,201 76% | 36k | $720k (exactly $720,240) | · |
 | Sovereign Syndicate | older | $19.99 | 573 79% | 17k | $344k (exactly $343,628) | Crimson Herring Studios |
 | Youtubers Life 3 | $19.99 | 468 50% | 14k | $281k (exactly $280,660) | UPLAY Online | |
 | 9th Dawn Remake | $15.99 | 514 86% | 15k | $247k (exactly $246,566) | Valorware | |
 | the cabin game | · EA | $11.99 | 362 86% | 11k | $130k (exactly $130,211) | Twisted Corridor👻 |
 | hololive Holo's Hanafuda | $24.99 | 152 80% | 4.6k | $114k (exactly $113,954) | Gemdrops, Inc. | |
 | Grail | $9.99 | 345 89% | 10k | $103k (exactly $103,396) | Sokpop Collective | |
 | DOG WITCH | $9.99 | 323 89% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $96,803) | Heckmouse | |
 | Golden Swirl | $19.99 | 149 92% | 4.5k | $89k (exactly $89,355) | Snako Production | |
 | TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 198 54% | 5.9k | $77k (exactly $77,161) | Alkame Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.