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Should I ship a Character Customization Level Editor game?
Character Customization + Level Editor
Of 54 developers who shipped a Character Customization Level Editor 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.. 167 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $450k, ×719 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 167 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $22,603) |
| Top 5% | $452k (exactly $451,574) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 216 |
| Announced | 167 |
| 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 up 190% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 27%, 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
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization, Level Editor; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Simulation, Physics
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 12,945 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 167 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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
Geometry Dash 2014 · $89M 
Solasta: Crown of the Magister 2021 · $18M 
SPORE™ Galactic Adventures 2009 · $4.3M 
Escape Simulator 2 2025 · $2.6M 
Legend of Grimrock 2012 · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Geometry Dash | older | $4.99 | 595,606 93% | 18M | $89M (exactly $89,162,218) | RobTop Games |
| | Solasta: Crown of the Magister | older | $29.99 | 19,680 87% | 590k | $18M (exactly $17,706,096) | Tactical Adventures |
| | SPORE™ Galactic Adventures | older | $19.99 | 7,249 89% | 217k | $4.3M (exactly $4,347,225) | EA - Maxis |
| | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
| | Legend of Grimrock | older | $14.99 | 4,844 93% | 145k | $2.2M (exactly $2,178,347) | Almost Human Games |
 | AO Tennis 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,236 70% | 37k | $1.9M (exactly $1,853,629) | Big Ant Studios |
 | s&box | $9.99 | 5,118 46% | 154k | $1.5M (exactly $1,533,865) | Facepunch Studios | |
 | Zeepkist | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,555 97% | 47k | $933k (exactly $932,533) | Steelpan Interactive |
 | Legends of Eisenwald | older | $19.99 | 1,394 76% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Aterdux Entertainment |
 | IRMÃO Grande & Brasileiro 2 | older | $19.99 | 1,392 97% | 42k | $835k (exactly $834,782) | Virgula Leal |
 | Turbo Dismount® 2 | $19.99 | 753 95% | 23k | $452k (exactly $451,574) | Secret Exit Ltd. | |
 | WindStop Strategy | $9.99 | 1,494 78% | 45k | $448k (exactly $447,752) | Xia Start | |
 | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
 | Suck Up! | $16.99 | 205 62% | 6.2k | $104k (exactly $104,488) | Proxima | |
 | CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) | $9.99 | 290 67% | 8.7k | $87k (exactly $86,913) | 悟空实验室 | |
 | Together in Battle | $19.99 | 134 90% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Sinister Design | |
 | World of Football | · EA | $9.99 | 197 81% | 5.9k | $59k (exactly $59,041) | Vault Game Studio |
 | Slip & Skid | $12.99 | 141 97% | 4.2k | $55k (exactly $54,948) | NHOGS Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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