Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Character Customization
Should I ship a Character Customization Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Character Customization
Of 23 developers who shipped a Character Customization Grand Strategy 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.. 41 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×4.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.9M, ×2663 the market median. Revenue is up 235% on the market; 41 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,544) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.0k (exactly $6,951) |
| Top 25% | $156k (exactly $155,938) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 94 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 235% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy, Character Customization; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Strategy RPG
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 13,473 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.6k. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Crusader Kings III 2020 · $142M 
HUMANKIND™ 2021 · $33M 
Age of Wonders 4 2023 · $25M 
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV 2020 · $24M 
Kingdom Heroes 8 2021 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crusader Kings III | older | $49.99 | 94,615 90% | 2.8M | $142M (exactly $141,894,116) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | HUMANKIND™ | older | $49.99 | 22,165 68% | 665k | $33M (exactly $33,240,850) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Age of Wonders 4 | older | $49.99 | 16,899 82% | 507k | $25M (exactly $25,343,430) | Triumph Studios |
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV | older | $59.99 | 13,086 62% | 393k | $24M (exactly $23,550,874) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII | older | $59.99 | 5,828 57% | 175k | $10M (exactly $10,488,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE | $59.99 | 3,118 49% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit | older | $39.99 | 3,754 92% | 113k | $4.5M (exactly $4,503,674) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Phoenix Point | older | $24.99 | 5,375 73% | 161k | $4.0M (exactly $4,029,637) | Snapshot Games Inc. |
 | Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms | · EA | $19.99 | 6,652 88% | 200k | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) | Free Wing |
 | Crown and Adventure | $19.99 | 1,693 61% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,015,292) | C3D Games | |
 | Elemental: Reforged | $29.99 | 478 73% | 14k | $430k (exactly $430,057) | Stardock Entertainment | |
 | Huaxia: Warring States | · EA | $19.99 | 701 61% | 21k | $420k (exactly $420,390) | 秦川汉渚 |
 | Horse Racing Manager | · EA | $24.99 | 208 88% | 6.2k | $156k (exactly $155,938) | Sheep Meadow Road Games |
 | Axis Football 2026 | $19.99 | 115 75% | 3.5k | $69k (exactly $68,966) | Axis Games | |
 | 吾皇万岁 | $4.99 | 422 68% | 13k | $63k (exactly $63,173) | AI GAME STUDIO | |
 | Axis Football 2027 | $19.99 | 44 72% | 1.3k | $26k (exactly $26,387) | Axis Games | |
 | Broken Alliance | · EA | $14.99 | 42 80% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Placeholder Gameworks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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