Do I ship it?

GamesFightingFighting + Character Customization

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Fighting game?

Fighting + Character Customization

Of 23 developers who shipped a Character Customization Fighting 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, ×8.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.9k, ×3.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.5M, ×5044 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 72 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 72 announced, ×8.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fighting + Character Customization
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $764k → $4.5M → $536k → $13k → $57k → $11k → $2.4k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fighting + Character Customization: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $1.9k (exactly $1,887)
Median $5.9k (exactly $5,850)
Top 25% $57k (exactly $57,288)
Top 5% $7.6M (exactly $7,556,580)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 153
Announced 72
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $8.99

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 90% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Fighting
effort 7 / 10 · low · frame data, hitboxes and rollback netcode
Character Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Fighting, Character Customization; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry 3D Fighter, PvP, Action
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 68% positive over 36,650 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.9k, median $5.9k, 1 in 4 over $57k, 1 in 20 over $7.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.9k. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SandboxStrong odds11 devs · median $76k · 8 announced
  2. + Score AttackLong shot13 devs · median $599 · 11 announced
  3. + Open WorldPoor odds12 devs · median $117k · 26 announced
  4. + Dark FantasyPoor odds11 devs · median $56k · 23 announced
  5. + Souls-likePoor odds8 devs · median $24k · 20 announced
  6. + SwordplayPoor odds13 devs · median $13k · 33 announced
  7. + HistoricalPoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 16 announced
  8. + CyberpunkPoor odds5 devs · median $9.6k · 18 announced
  9. + Local Co-OpPoor odds41 devs · median $9.4k · 45 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds45 devs · median $9.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Hack and SlashPoor odds29 devs · median $8.7k · 60 announced
  12. + AdventurePoor odds44 devs · median $7.2k · 104 announced

All 67 pairs on the Fighting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mortal Kombat 11 older $49.99 87,021 88% 2.6M $131M (exactly $130,505,394) NetherRealm Studios, QLOC, Shiver
MORDHAU older $29.99 91,678 80% 2.8M $82M (exactly $82,482,697) Triternion
TEKKEN 7 older $39.99 68,063 83% 2.0M $82M (exactly $81,655,181) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Street Fighter™ 6 older $39.99 49,952 81% 1.5M $60M (exactly $59,927,414) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
TEKKEN 8 older $39.99 46,009 56% 1.4M $55M (exactly $55,196,997) Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
Mortal Kombat 1 older $49.99 34,197 74% 1.0M $51M (exactly $51,285,241) NetherRealm Studios, QLOC
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE older $64.98 17,554 89% 527k $34M (exactly $34,219,768) DIMPS
Undisputed $49.99 19,190 60% 576k $29M (exactly $28,779,243) Steel City Interactive
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 older $19.99 45,155 90% 1.4M $27M (exactly $27,079,453) QLOC, Dimps Corporation
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT older $19.99 43,951 92% 1.3M $26M (exactly $26,357,415) CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd.
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV $29.99 8,399 83% 252k $7.6M (exactly $7,556,580) SNK CORPORATION
WWE 2K25 $59.99 4,108 73% 123k $7.4M (exactly $7,393,168) Visual Concepts
WWE 2K26 $69.99 2,310 56% 69k $4.9M (exactly $4,850,307) Visual Concepts
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage $19.99 1,897 71% 57k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,631) RGG Studio
Elements Divided $14.99 137 86% 4.1k $62k (exactly $61,609) Loco Motion Devs
Knock'Em Out $7.99 239 85% 7.2k $57k (exactly $57,288) BBear Studio
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Shoresy: Legends of the North $19.99 57 78% 1.7k $34k (exactly $34,183) Treewood Games
Boxing Simulator $7.99 79 79% 2.4k $19k (exactly $18,936) Inogames

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