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Should I ship a Character Customization Resource Management game?
Character Customization + Resource Management
Of 162 developers who shipped a Character Customization Resource Management 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.. 424 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.9k, ×9.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×987 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 424 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.9k (exactly $5,865) |
| Top 25% | $46k (exactly $46,388) |
| Top 5% | $620k (exactly $619,664) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 162 |
| Released games | 382 |
| Announced | 424 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 up 25% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Resource Management
- 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, Resource Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 50,479 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 424 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 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
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV 2020 · $24M 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII 2016 · $10M 
Youtubers Life 2017 · $8.2M 
The Guild 3 2022 · $6.4M 
Project Hospital 2018 · $6.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV | older | $59.99 | 13,086 62% | 393k | $24M (exactly $23,550,874) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII | older | $59.99 | 5,828 57% | 175k | $10M (exactly $10,488,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Youtubers Life | older | $19.99 | 13,748 77% | 412k | $8.2M (exactly $8,244,676) | UPLAY Online |
| | The Guild 3 | older | $29.99 | 7,120 60% | 214k | $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) | Purple Lamp, GolemLabs |
| | Project Hospital | older | $24.99 | 8,387 89% | 252k | $6.3M (exactly $6,287,734) | Oxymoron Games |
 | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE | $59.99 | 3,118 49% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Gamble With Your Friends | $7.99 | 18,883 89% | 566k | $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) | TEAM GWYF | |
 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit | older | $39.99 | 3,754 92% | 113k | $4.5M (exactly $4,503,674) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Keep Driving | $17.99 | 6,188 93% | 186k | $3.3M (exactly $3,339,664) | YCJY Games | |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure | $29.99 | 1,867 82% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,679,740) | Massive Miniteam | |
 | ContractVille | $9.99 | 5,593 80% | 168k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,222) | MYM Games Studios | |
 | Dungeon Settlers | · EA | $24.99 | 1,117 79% | 34k | $837k (exactly $837,415) | CanOpener |
 | Gamblers Table | $6.99 | 2,955 74% | 89k | $620k (exactly $619,664) | greenpixels, Bossforge | |
 | Noble Legacy | · EA | $24.99 | 744 70% | 22k | $558k (exactly $557,777) | Ultimus Rex LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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