Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Pirates

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Pirate Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Pirates

Only 18 developers shipped a Pirate 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, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 59 more are announced, ×6.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $9.6k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $11M, ×18868 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 59 announced, ×6.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Pirates
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $27k → $27k → $9.6k → $44k → $59 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Pirates: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Median $9.6k (exactly $9,595)
Top 25% $112k (exactly $111,544)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,849,225)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 59
Announced 59
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $15.00

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 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Pirates
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Open World, Action
Price point
$15.00 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $15.00.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 12,901 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $9.6k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.6 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

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii 2025 · $12M Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 2018 · $8.8M Blazing Sails 2023 · $3.8M Caribbean Legend 2024 · $3.4M Age of Water 2025 · $2.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii $59.99 6,584 88% 198k $12M (exactly $11,849,225) RGG Studio
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire older $19.99 14,659 87% 440k $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) Obsidian Entertainment
Blazing Sails older $14.99 8,361 87% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive
Caribbean Legend older $39.99 2,860 74% 86k $3.4M (exactly $3,431,142) BlackMark Studio
Age of Water $29.99 2,883 72% 86k $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) Three Whales Studio
Cat Quest III older $19.99 3,108 94% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,863,868) The Gentlebros
Salt 2: Shores of Gold $19.99 2,182 85% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Lavaboots Studios
Sea Dogs: To Each His Own older $14.99 1,927 72% 58k $867k (exactly $866,572) BlackMark Studio
Horizon's Gate older $19.99 1,213 94% 36k $727k (exactly $727,436) Rad Codex
Hunt and Snare · EA older $29.99 720 80% 22k $648k (exactly $647,784) Ruffleneck, Hare, Drathek
Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates $19.99 638 70% 19k $383k (exactly $382,609) ReCon Team
Erannorth Renaissance $19.99 186 81% 5.6k $112k (exactly $111,544) Spyridon Thalassinos
Void Marauders $13.99 106 77% 3.2k $44k (exactly $44,488) Autarca
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade
Shadowhand Solitaire $13.99 64 90% 1.9k $27k (exactly $26,861) Grey Alien Games
Trident's Tale $19.99 16 68% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) 3DClouds
To Grant A Wish $15.00 8 100% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,600) Wizard Raz Studios

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