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Should I ship a Character Customization Shop Keeper?
Character Customization + Shop Keeper
Of 52 developers who shipped a Character Customization Shop Keeper 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.. 96 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.4k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2217 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 96 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) |
| Top 25% | $60k (exactly $60,404) |
| Top 5% | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,503) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 96 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 380% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Shop Keeper
- 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, Shop Keeper; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Life Sim, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 17,268 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 3 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
School Days 2026 · $2.7M 
King of Retail 2022 · $2.3M 
Roadside Research 2026 · EA · $1.8M 
Discounty 2025 · $1.4M 
Winkeltje: The Little Shop 2022 · $725k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
| | King of Retail | older | $25.99 | 2,982 88% | 89k | $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) | Freaking Games |
| | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
| | Discounty | $19.99 | 2,322 82% | 70k | $1.4M (exactly $1,392,503) | Crinkle Cut Games | |
| | Winkeltje: The Little Shop | older | $14.99 | 1,612 88% | 48k | $725k (exactly $724,916) | Sassybot |
 | Leafy Corner | $9.99 | 2,319 96% | 70k | $695k (exactly $695,004) | Fireline Games | |
 | Rebirth Pub | $17.99 | 700 92% | 21k | $378k (exactly $377,790) | Seikou Soft. | |
 | King of Retail 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 275 79% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Freaking Games |
 | Not Monday Cafe | $8.99 | 539 94% | 16k | $145k (exactly $145,368) | Sunny Syrup Studio | |
 | Happy's Humble Burger Cult | $9.99 | 477 86% | 14k | $143k (exactly $142,957) | Scythe Dev Team | |
 | Deep Blue Sushi | · EA | $14.99 | 212 75% | 6.4k | $95k (exactly $95,336) | PaperPixel Games |
 | Mining Merchant | $6.99 | 410 88% | 12k | $86k (exactly $85,977) | Delayed Victory |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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