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Should I ship a Science Character Customization game?
Character Customization + Science
Only 18 developers shipped a Science 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, Schrodinger's Cat Burglar, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 47 more are announced, ×5.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×585 the market median. Revenue is up 26580% on the market; 47 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 25% | $58k (exactly $58,233) |
| Top 5% | $368k (exactly $367,616) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 52 |
| Announced | 47 |
| 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 up 26580% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Science
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 3,041 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Customization with a different setting or mood, 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
| 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 |
| | Forza Motorsport | older | $69.99 | 12,148 51% | 364k | $26M (exactly $25,507,156) | Turn 10 |
| | Expeditions: A MudRunner Game | older | $39.99 | 3,000 59% | 90k | $3.6M (exactly $3,599,100) | Saber Interactive |
| | Main Assembly | older | $19.99 | 1,004 83% | 30k | $602k (exactly $602,099) | Bad Yolk Games |
| | RIPOUT | older | $19.99 | 783 65% | 23k | $470k (exactly $469,565) | Pet Project Games |
| | Schrodinger's Cat Burglar | $19.99 | 613 97% | 18k | $368k (exactly $367,616) | Abandoned Sheep | |
| | Thrive | · EA older | $4.99 | 1,680 92% | 50k | $251k (exactly $251,496) | Revolutionary Games Studio |
| | Mudborne: Frog Management Sim | $7.99 | 993 96% | 30k | $238k (exactly $238,022) | ellraiser, TNgineers | |
| | Genome Guardian 2 | · EA | $15.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $197k (exactly $196,677) | Alpherior |
| | Atomcraft | $14.99 | 407 94% | 12k | $183k (exactly $183,028) | Triplejump | |
| | My Little Spider | $4.99 | 389 94% | 12k | $58k (exactly $58,233) | 9FingerGames, Fatal Fawn Games | |
| | Orgasm Lab Simulator 💦🍌 | $14.99 | 119 69% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $53,514) | BanzaiProject | |
| | Rat Overflow | · EA | $5.99 | 60 88% | 1.8k | $11k (exactly $10,782) | Little Beast Lab |
| | MINERALS: Deep Core Mining | $6.99 | 23 78% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | THINK & FEEL | |
| | Virus Rush + Hazard of the Ages | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | STRANGER | |
| | Posthuman: Guardians vs PSION | $6.99 | 14 42% | 420 | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) | Choice of Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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