Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter CustomizationCharacter Customization + Science

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 7.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 26580% on the market, 47 announced, ×5.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Science
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: $91k → $3.6M → $1.8k → $449 → $360 → $54k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Science: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
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.

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
Science
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; 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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $4.7k, 1 in 4 over $58k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

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.

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
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.