Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter CustomizationCharacter Customization + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Dystopian

Of 44 developers who shipped a Dystopian 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.. 131 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2313 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 131 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 131 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $42k → $42k → $6.7k → $300 → $564 → $6.3k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,134)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,779)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 120
Announced 131
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 25% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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 Action, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 33,476 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 131 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Forever Winter · EA $29.99 21,376 68% 641k $19M (exactly $19,231,987) Fun Dog Studios
The Outer Worlds 2 $69.99 8,450 73% 254k $18M (exactly $17,742,465) Obsidian Entertainment
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
AI*Shoujo/AI*少女 older $69.99 2,100 75% 63k $4.4M (exactly $4,409,370) ILLUSION
Shadowrun Returns older $14.99 9,521 88% 286k $4.3M (exactly $4,281,594) Harebrained Schemes
Showgunners older $29.99 1,642 93% 49k $1.5M (exactly $1,477,307) Artificer
FREEDOM WARS Remastered $39.99 1,211 69% 36k $1.5M (exactly $1,452,837) Dimps Corporation
Snezhinka:Sentinel Girls2 older $7.99 2,433 96% 73k $583k (exactly $583,190) hinyari9
Out of Action · EA $19.99 916 77% 27k $549k (exactly $549,325) Doku Games LTD
Cargo Hunters · EA $19.99 739 82% 22k $443k (exactly $443,178) Order Of Meta
Sonny Legacy Collection $9.99 337 91% 10k $101k (exactly $100,999) Krin Juangbhanich
Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall · EA $19.99 111 71% 3.3k $67k (exactly $66,567) A Memory of Eternity
Tarnished Blood 🩸 [Tactic RPG] · EA $19.99 87 88% 2.6k $52k (exactly $52,174) Juggler Games, Nakayama Games
CashGrab: Refunded · EA $6.99 206 87% 6.2k $43k (exactly $43,198) Grabba Guild Games LLC
Cyberscape $14.99 43 93% 1.3k $19k (exactly $19,337) AtomicTorch Studio

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