Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Cooking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Cooking game?

Character Customization + Cooking

Of 79 developers who shipped a Character Customization Cooking 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.. 198 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.4M, ×5532 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 198 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 198 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Cooking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 79
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $709k → $44k → $37k → $22k → $19k → $9.7k → $19k (still earning) → $9.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Cooking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 79
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,590)
Top 25% $60k (exactly $59,940)
Top 5% $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343)
Developers, 2 yr 79
Released games 164
Announced 198
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 15% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Character Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Cooking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
Character Customization, Cooking; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Life Sim
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.90 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.90 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 41,564 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $59k, 1 in 20 over $3.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 42 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 198 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds14 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  2. + Real-TimeStrong odds7 devs · median $2.0k · 6 announced
  3. + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair10 devs · median $18k · 8 announced
  4. + TransportationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  5. + MinigamesFair27 devs · median $5.7k · 34 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.2k · 13 announced
  7. + BikesFair11 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  8. + IdlerFair210 devs · median $1.2k · 286 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair146 devs · median $1.2k · 190 announced
  10. + GamblingFair30 devs · median $836 · 32 announced
  11. + Precision PlatformerFair103 devs · median $748 · 116 announced
  12. + TypingFair27 devs · median $539 · 38 announced

All 250 pairs on the Character Customization page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M Black Desert 2017 · $19M Sun Haven 2023 · $17M Fast Food Simulator 2024 · EA · $3.9M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Disney Dreamlight Valley older $39.99 22,027 92% 661k $26M (exactly $26,425,792) Gameloft
Black Desert older $9.99 63,052 75% 1.9M $19M (exactly $18,896,684) Pearl Abyss
Sun Haven older $24.99 22,069 79% 662k $17M (exactly $16,545,129) Pixel Sprout Studios
Fast Food Simulator · EA $14.99 8,653 86% 260k $3.9M (exactly $3,891,254) No Ceiling Games
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
Farm Together 2 $25.99 4,456 93% 134k $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) Milkstone Studios
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game $34.99 3,237 81% 97k $3.4M (exactly $3,397,879) Wētā Workshop
Papa's Freezeria Deluxe older $5.99 12,275 99% 368k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,818) Flipline Studios
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator older $29.99 2,222 83% 67k $2.0M (exactly $1,999,133) Cyanide Studio
Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe $5.99 3,450 98% 104k $620k (exactly $619,965) Flipline Studios
Cooking Simulator 2: Better Together $24.99 816 49% 24k $612k (exactly $611,755) Big Cheese Studio
To Pixelia $14.99 1,194 73% 36k $537k (exactly $536,942) Pixeduo Studios
DYSPLACED · EA $24.99 296 87% 8.9k $222k (exactly $221,911) 10tons Ltd
Out and About · EA $17.99 370 91% 11k $200k (exactly $199,689) Yaldi Games

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