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Should I ship a Character Customization Colony Sim?
Character Customization + Colony Sim
Of 41 developers who shipped a Character Customization Colony Sim 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $21k, ×33 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1333 the market median. Revenue is up 195% on the market; 66 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
|---|---|
| Median | $21k (exactly $20,503) |
| Top 25% | $150k (exactly $149,833) |
| Top 5% | $837k (exactly $837,415) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 79 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 195% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Colony Sim
- 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
- Character Customization, Colony Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Base Building, Management
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 12,373 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 5 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Cult of the Lamb 2022 · $84M 
Farm Together 2018 · $11M 
CryoFall 2021 · $2.9M 
Eastern Era 2026 · $2.3M 
Survivalist: Invisible Strain 2025 · $1.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cult of the Lamb | older | $24.99 | 112,096 95% | 3.4M | $84M (exactly $84,038,371) | Massive Monster |
| | Farm Together | older | $19.99 | 17,647 93% | 529k | $11M (exactly $10,582,906) | Milkstone Studios |
| | CryoFall | older | $19.99 | 4,905 78% | 147k | $2.9M (exactly $2,941,528) | AtomicTorch Studio |
| | Eastern Era | $24.99 | 3,028 65% | 91k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) | FunYoo Games | |
| | Survivalist: Invisible Strain | $11.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $1.4M (exactly $1,443,836) | Bob | |
 | Founders' Fortune | older | $21.99 | 1,862 81% | 56k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,361) | Dionic Software |
 | Sheltered 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,015 45% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,208,396) | Unicube |
 | Drake Hollow | older | $29.99 | 1,159 77% | 35k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,752) | The Molasses Flood |
 | Noble Fates | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,385 82% | 42k | $1.0M (exactly $1,038,334) | Xobermon, LLC |
 | Cattails: Wildwood Story | older | $19.99 | 1,479 97% | 44k | $887k (exactly $886,956) | Falcon Development |
 | Dungeon Settlers | · EA | $24.99 | 1,117 79% | 34k | $837k (exactly $837,415) | CanOpener |
 | Anomaly President | · EA | $14.99 | 1,376 91% | 41k | $619k (exactly $618,787) | Phew Phew Games |
 | Noble Legacy | · EA | $24.99 | 744 70% | 22k | $558k (exactly $557,777) | Ultimus Rex LLC |
 | Hole Is Mine | $7.99 | 741 90% | 22k | $178k (exactly $177,618) | Incrementalist | |
 | This Grand Life 2 | $17.99 | 307 88% | 9.2k | $166k (exactly $165,688) | Poking Water Games | |
 | Pompeii: The Legacy | $19.99 | 266 80% | 8.0k | $160k (exactly $159,520) | Siscia Games | |
 | Sinner Maker | · EA | $9.66 | 545 91% | 16k | $158k (exactly $157,941) | Pantokrator |
 | Wizdom Academy | · EA | $21.99 | 235 62% | 7.1k | $155k (exactly $155,030) | Kipwak Studio, Lake On Fire |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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