Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Metroidvania
Should I ship a Character Customization Metroidvania?
Character Customization + Metroidvania
Of 24 developers who shipped a Character Customization Metroidvania 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.. 105 more are announced, ×9.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×861 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 105 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,679) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) |
| Top 25% | $86k (exactly $86,357) |
| Top 5% | $541k (exactly $540,539) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 105 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization, Metroidvania; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2.5D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,288 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×9.5 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
Tails of Iron 2021 · $9.8M 
Dread Delusion 2024 · $2.9M 
Lost Ruins 2021 · $2.8M 
Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune 2024 · $1.4M 
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter 2025 · $1.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tails of Iron | older | $24.99 | 13,116 87% | 393k | $9.8M (exactly $9,833,065) | Odd Bug Studio |
| | Dread Delusion | older | $19.99 | 4,886 90% | 147k | $2.9M (exactly $2,930,134) | Lovely Hellplace |
| | Lost Ruins | older | $19.99 | 4,643 86% | 139k | $2.8M (exactly $2,784,407) | ALTARI GAMES |
| | Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune | older | $24.99 | 1,914 82% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,434,926) | IceSitruuna |
| | Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter | $24.99 | 1,851 79% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,695) | Odd Bug Studio | |
 | Crystal Project | older | $13.99 | 2,510 91% | 75k | $1.1M (exactly $1,053,447) | Andrew Willman |
 | Salt and Sacrifice | older | $19.99 | 1,738 62% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,279) | Devoured Studios, Ska Studios |
 | Gori: Cuddly Carnage | older | $21.99 | 1,434 96% | 43k | $946k (exactly $946,010) | Angry Demon Studio |
 | Astalon: Tears of the Earth | older | $19.99 | 995 92% | 30k | $597k (exactly $596,702) | LABS Works |
 | LOST EPIC | older | $17.99 | 1,055 71% | 32k | $569k (exactly $569,384) | One or Eight, Team EARTHWARS |
 | JUMP KING QUEST | $14.99 | 1,202 88% | 36k | $541k (exactly $540,539) | Nexile | |
 | Haydee 3 | $29.99 | 321 84% | 9.6k | $289k (exactly $288,804) | Haydee Interactive | |
 | Strange Seed | $14.99 | 431 86% | 13k | $194k (exactly $193,821) | Chronicle Games Ltd | |
 | Superhero Simulator | · EA | $5.99 | 867 73% | 26k | $156k (exactly $155,800) | mightyraccoon! Studios |
 | Voltage High Society | $19.99 | 144 92% | 4.3k | $86k (exactly $86,357) | Platonic Partnership | |
 | DAMON and BABY | $19.99 | 87 89% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | Arc System Works | |
 | Babushka's Glitch Dungeon | $5.99 | 259 98% | 7.8k | $47k (exactly $46,542) | pets club 2 | |
 | Sunfluffs | · EA | $11.99 | 56 100% | 1.7k | $20k (exactly $20,143) | Nuclear Strawberry |
 | Star Soraight Fantasy: Magic to reach the sky | $8.99 | 70 90% | 2.1k | $19k (exactly $18,879) | Altoseal and Hoshikuzunoyoru |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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