Games › Looter Shooter › Looter Shooter + Character Customization
Should I ship a Character Customization Looter Shooter?
Looter Shooter + Character Customization
Of 50 developers who shipped a Character Customization Looter Shooter 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.. 151 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×6.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.5M, ×5025 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 151 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) |
| Top 25% | $69k (exactly $68,966) |
| Top 5% | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 151 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Looter Shooter
- effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Looter Shooter, Character Customization; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, PvE
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 64,141 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 6 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 151 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MechsFair
- + Vehicular CombatFair
- + IdlerFair
- + 3D PlatformerLong shot
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Inventory ManagementPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
Comparable games
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Breakpoint 2023 · $80M 
Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 2023 · $29M 
OUTRIDERS 2021 · $28M 
The Forever Winter 2024 · EA · $19M 
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands 2022 · $16M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Breakpoint | older | $59.99 | 44,635 72% | 1.3M | $80M (exactly $80,329,610) | Ubisoft Paris |
| | Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 | older | $29.99 | 32,600 79% | 978k | $29M (exactly $29,330,220) | Ubisoft |
| | OUTRIDERS | older | $19.99 | 46,146 66% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $27,673,756) | People Can Fly |
| | The Forever Winter | · EA | $29.99 | 21,376 68% | 641k | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) | Fun Dog Studios |
| | Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | older | $29.99 | 17,779 70% | 533k | $16M (exactly $15,995,766) | Gearbox Software |
 | No More Room in Hell 2 | $29.99 | 16,725 62% | 502k | $15M (exactly $15,047,482) | Torn Banner Studios | |
 | John Carpenter's Toxic Commando | $39.99 | 6,274 72% | 188k | $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) | Saber Interactive | |
 | Necromunda: Hired Gun | older | $39.99 | 5,892 68% | 177k | $7.1M (exactly $7,068,632) | Streum On Studio |
 | Ghosts of Tabor | · EA older | $24.99 | 9,140 70% | 274k | $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) | Combat Waffle Studios |
 | Road to Vostok | · EA | $19.99 | 8,646 84% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) | Road to Vostok Ltd. |
 | SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada | $39.99 | 3,303 40% | 99k | $4.0M (exactly $3,962,609) | Game Studio Inc. | |
 | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
 | Relic Hunters Legend | $19.99 | 1,101 65% | 33k | $660k (exactly $660,270) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Reality Break | $24.99 | 683 80% | 20k | $512k (exactly $512,045) | Element Games, LLC | |
 | CyberCorp | $14.99 | 351 75% | 11k | $158k (exactly $157,845) | Megame LLC | |
 | Bioweaver | $6.99 | 668 77% | 20k | $140k (exactly $140,080) | Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.