Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Detective

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Detective Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Detective

Of 38 developers who shipped a Detective Character Customization 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.. 72 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 $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $740; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×927 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 72 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 72 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Detective
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.9k → $3.0k → $7.8k → $6.0k → $1.3k → $2.3k (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Detective: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $740 (exactly $740)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,156)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $20,236)
Top 5% $582k (exactly $581,912)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 75
Announced 72
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 down 45% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Detective
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Investigation, Adventure
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.00 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Story Rich, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.00 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 10,023 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $740, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $580k.

3 in 10 developers made under $740. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Customization with a different setting or mood, 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

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut 2019 · $142M Escape Simulator 2 2025 · $2.6M Unavowed 2018 · $1.0M Equinox: Homecoming 2026 · $582k The Other Side 2025 · EA · $496k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut older $39.99 118,124 92% 3.5M $142M (exactly $141,713,363) ZA/UM
Escape Simulator 2 $19.99 4,292 92% 129k $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) Pine Studio
Unavowed older $14.99 2,309 95% 69k $1.0M (exactly $1,038,357) Wadjet Eye Games
Equinox: Homecoming $14.99 1,294 80% 39k $582k (exactly $581,912) Blue Scarab Entertainment
The Other Side · EA $13.99 1,181 93% 35k $496k (exactly $495,666) Vectora Games
Money for Girls: Amortized $15.00 795 98% 24k $358k (exactly $357,750) Porpentine
KILLER INN · EA $9.99 670 44% 20k $201k (exactly $200,799) Square Enix, Tactic Studios
Betrayal At Club Low older $9.99 538 97% 16k $161k (exactly $161,239) Cosmo D Studios
Superhero Simulator · EA $5.99 867 73% 26k $156k (exactly $155,800) mightyraccoon! Studios
HARDCODED $16.99 282 90% 8.5k $144k (exactly $143,735) Ghost Hug Games
SEVERANCE · EA $9.99 459 70% 14k $138k (exactly $137,562) Sykes Games
Detective Dotson $14.99 138 78% 4.1k $62k (exactly $62,059) Masala Games Private Limited
Kill The Clock · EA $14.99 45 88% 1.4k $20k (exactly $20,236) Happy Slugs

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