Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Sailing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Sailing game?

Character Customization + Sailing

Only 18 developers shipped a Character Customization Sailing 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.. 43 more are announced, ×7.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×8.4 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 up 5325% on the market; 43 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 5325% on the market, 43 announced, ×7.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Sailing
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: $300 → $99k → $9.6k → $450
Outcomes for Character Customization + Sailing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Median $5.3k (exactly $5,273)
Top 25% $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,849,225)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 47
Announced 43
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 5325% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than 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
Sailing
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, Sailing; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Crafting
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 18,065 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 $5.3k, 1 in 4 over $1.3M, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 6 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Customization with a different second tag, 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 Caribbean Legend 2024 · $3.4M Aloft 2025 · EA · $2.3M Ships At Sea 2024 · EA · $1.9M Voyagers of Nera 2025 · EA · $1.8M
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
Caribbean Legend older $39.99 2,860 74% 86k $3.4M (exactly $3,431,142) BlackMark Studio
Aloft · EA $24.99 3,057 82% 92k $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) Astrolabe Interactive Inc.
Ships At Sea · EA older $24.99 2,479 69% 74k $1.9M (exactly $1,858,506) Misc Games
Voyagers of Nera · EA $29.99 2,022 83% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,819,193) Treehouse Games
Finnish Cottage Simulator · EA $14.99 3,396 93% 102k $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181) RANELA GAMES
Salt 2: Shores of Gold $19.99 2,182 85% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Lavaboots Studios
Critter Cove · EA older $24.99 1,735 94% 52k $1.3M (exactly $1,300,730) Gentleman Rat 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
Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates $19.99 638 70% 19k $383k (exactly $382,609) ReCon Team
Collector's Cove $19.99 136 86% 4.1k $82k (exactly $81,559) VoodooDuck
Trident's Tale $19.99 16 68% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) 3DClouds
Dockside Dreams – Fish & Cook Simulator $7.99 22 59% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) C51 Games
Shippin $7.99 12 100% 360 $2.9k (exactly $2,876) Big Trident Studios

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