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Should I ship a Character Customization Destruction game?
Character Customization + Destruction
Of 29 developers who shipped a Character Customization Destruction 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.. 126 more are announced, ×6.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×821 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 126 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $19,190) |
| Top 5% | $516k (exactly $515,816) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 103 |
| Announced | 126 |
| 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 down 85% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- Destruction
- 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, Destruction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Crafting, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 4,860 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 126 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.6 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
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
BattleBit Remastered 2023 · EA · $57M 
Exoprimal 2023 · $4.6M 
DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS 2022 · $4.5M 
Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered 2021 · $3.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | BattleBit Remastered | · EA older | $14.99 | 127,680 82% | 3.8M | $57M (exactly $57,417,696) | SgtOkiDoki, Vilaskis, TheLiquidHorse |
| | Exoprimal | older | $59.99 | 2,581 76% | 77k | $4.6M (exactly $4,645,026) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | DRAGON BALL: THE BREAKERS | older | $29.99 | 4,983 50% | 149k | $4.5M (exactly $4,483,205) | Dimps Corporation |
| | Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered | older | $29.99 | 3,968 73% | 119k | $3.6M (exactly $3,570,010) | Deep Silver Volition, Sperasoft |
 | Warbox | · EA older | $9.99 | 3,430 55% | 103k | $1.0M (exactly $1,027,971) | Mantaliss |
 | Gori: Cuddly Carnage | older | $21.99 | 1,434 96% | 43k | $946k (exactly $946,010) | Angry Demon Studio |
 | Last Train Outta' Wormtown | $11.99 | 1,453 96% | 44k | $523k (exactly $522,644) | Get(Color) Games | |
 | Star Fire: Eternal Cycle | $16.99 | 1,012 91% | 30k | $516k (exactly $515,816) | Ethereal Fish Studio | |
 | RIPOUT | older | $19.99 | 783 65% | 23k | $470k (exactly $469,565) | Pet Project Games |
 | Turbo Dismount® 2 | $19.99 | 753 95% | 23k | $452k (exactly $451,574) | Secret Exit Ltd. | |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks | $19.99 | 493 85% | 15k | $296k (exactly $295,652) | Caged Element | |
 | DYSPLACED | · EA | $24.99 | 296 87% | 8.9k | $222k (exactly $221,911) | 10tons Ltd |
 | DigDigDrill | $3.99 | 607 95% | 18k | $73k (exactly $72,658) | Toorai | |
 | Kiln | $7.99 | 154 74% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,914) | Double Fine Productions | |
 | POLARIS™ | $19.99 | 32 59% | 960 | $19k (exactly $19,190) | POLARIS™ Team, Variable State | |
 | SCHROTT: Roguelike Racer | · EA | $12.99 | 49 91% | 1.5k | $19k (exactly $19,095) | Ivy Juice |
 | Crafty Racer | · EA | $14.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | Peterclark |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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