Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter CustomizationCharacter Customization + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Psychological Horror

Of 87 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Character Customization 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.. 145 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×8.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×17363 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 145 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 145 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 87
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $41k → $5.7k → $3.4k → $11k → $11k → $4.8k → $3.4k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 87
Bottom 30% $750 (exactly $750)
Median $5.0k (exactly $5,027)
Top 25% $136k (exactly $135,764)
Top 5% $11M (exactly $10,903,742)
Developers, 2 yr 87
Released games 236
Announced 145
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Psychological Horror
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op, Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.00 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.00 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 207,859 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $5.0k, 1 in 4 over $130k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 6 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 145 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Outlast Trials older $39.99 90,997 92% 2.7M $109M (exactly $109,169,101) Red Barrels
Geometry Dash older $4.99 595,606 93% 18M $89M (exactly $89,162,218) RobTop Games
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard $59.99 41,393 67% 1.2M $74M (exactly $74,494,982) BioWare
Marathon $39.99 44,919 81% 1.3M $54M (exactly $53,889,324) Bungie
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 $69.99 21,633 59% 649k $45M (exactly $45,422,810) Asobo Studio
RV There Yet? $7.99 72,732 90% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,433,860) Nuggets Entertainment
CODE VEIN II $69.99 5,193 66% 156k $11M (exactly $10,903,742) Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
コイカツ! / Koikatsu Party older $59.99 5,298 91% 159k $9.5M (exactly $9,534,811) ILLUSION
Sonic Forces older $39.99 6,742 61% 202k $8.1M (exactly $8,088,377) Sonic Team, Hardlight
Labyrinthine older $9.99 13,779 84% 413k $4.1M (exactly $4,129,566) Valko Game Studios
Fast Food Simulator · EA $14.99 8,653 86% 260k $3.9M (exactly $3,891,254) No Ceiling Games
Copycat $14.99 4,611 89% 138k $2.1M (exactly $2,073,567) Spoonful Of Wonder
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe $5.99 3,450 98% 104k $620k (exactly $619,965) Flipline Studios
Equinox: Homecoming $14.99 1,294 80% 39k $582k (exactly $581,912) Blue Scarab Entertainment

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