Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Noir

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Noir Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Noir

Only 11 developers shipped a Noir Character Customization game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Psycho Patrol R, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 46 more are announced, ×5.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×3993 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 46 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 46 announced, ×5.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Noir
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.0k → $2.2k (still earning) → $598 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Noir: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $598 (exactly $598)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $190k (exactly $190,105)
Top 5% $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 39
Announced 46
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 350% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Noir
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Character Customization
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 4,766 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $190k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 46 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Customization with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds14 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  2. + Real-TimeStrong odds7 devs · median $2.0k · 6 announced
  3. + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair10 devs · median $18k · 8 announced
  4. + TransportationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  5. + MinigamesFair27 devs · median $5.7k · 34 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.2k · 13 announced
  7. + BikesFair11 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  8. + IdlerFair210 devs · median $1.2k · 286 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair146 devs · median $1.2k · 190 announced
  10. + GamblingFair30 devs · median $836 · 32 announced
  11. + Precision PlatformerFair103 devs · median $748 · 116 announced
  12. + TypingFair27 devs · median $539 · 38 announced

All 250 pairs on the Character Customization page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut 2019 · $142M Soul Hackers 2 2022 · $4.1M Psycho Patrol R 2025 · EA · $2.5M Unavowed 2018 · $1.0M DEATH NOTE Killer Within 2024 · $697k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut older $39.99 118,124 92% 3.5M $142M (exactly $141,713,363) ZA/UM
Soul Hackers 2 older $59.99 2,300 65% 69k $4.1M (exactly $4,139,310) ATLUS
Psycho Patrol R · EA $39.99 2,090 88% 63k $2.5M (exactly $2,507,373) Consumer Softproducts
Unavowed older $14.99 2,309 95% 69k $1.0M (exactly $1,038,357) Wadjet Eye Games
DEATH NOTE Killer Within $9.99 2,324 84% 70k $697k (exactly $696,503) Grounding Inc.
Withering Realms · EA $19.99 317 95% 9.5k $190k (exactly $190,105) Moonless Formless
Betrayal At Club Low older $9.99 538 97% 16k $161k (exactly $161,239) Cosmo D Studios
Vigilantes older $14.99 276 80% 8.3k $124k (exactly $124,117) Timeslip Softworks
Grey Skies: A War of the Worlds Story older $11.99 154 35% 4.6k $55k (exactly $55,394) Steel Arts Software
CyberTaxi older $9.99 178 64% 5.3k $53k (exactly $53,347) Projects from Basement
One Way Mirror: AI · EA $14.99 7 85% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) Pigi the Wizard and the Feral Yellow Sh… (Pigi the Wizard and the Feral Yellow Sheep)
Wizard Confidential $5.99 12 75% 360 $2.2k (exactly $2,156) Choice of Games
Meridian $9.99 4 100% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Turn Based Hedgehog
Wrestling Classics: Olde Timey Pro Wrestling $3.99 5 60% 150 $598 (exactly $598) LunarCore Games
The World Ends in Ohio $3.99 5 80% 150 $598 (exactly $598) PDS Games
KAPIBAROV $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) STUDIYATEHNOLOGIJ-RV
Hollow Signal $6.99 1 100% 30 $210 (exactly $210) Dev-Solo Studio

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