Games › Social Deduction › Social Deduction + Character Customization
Should I ship a Character Customization Social Deduction game?
Social Deduction + Character Customization
Only 15 developers shipped a Character Customization Social Deduction 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, DEATH NOTE Killer Within, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×2.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $690k, ×465 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,413) |
| Top 5% | $697k (exactly $696,503) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 135% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Social Deduction
- effort 7 / 10 · low · online lobbies, voice or chat, live player base
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Social Deduction, Character Customization; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Action, Co-op
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dialogue Heavy, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 3,304 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Social Deduction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + SimulationFair
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + Board GameLong shot
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies | older | $7.99 | 7,792 91% | 234k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,742) | Striped Panda Studios |
| | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
| | Castaway Paradise - live among the animals | older | $14.99 | 447 71% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,016) | Stolen Couch Games |
| | KILLER INN | · EA | $9.99 | 670 44% | 20k | $201k (exactly $200,799) | Square Enix, Tactic Studios |
| | Deducto 2 | older | $4.99 | 450 91% | 14k | $67k (exactly $67,365) | Red Fox Studios |
| | Paper Pirates | older | $12.99 | 115 91% | 3.5k | $45k (exactly $44,816) | Iteration Games |
| | DreadHaunt | $19.99 | 39 64% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Digital Happiness | |
| | Trust No Bunny | older | $5.99 | 109 93% | 3.3k | $20k (exactly $19,587) | Friendly Pixel, Inc. |
| | Who's Next? | $4.99 | 123 87% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | HellAssociation | |
| | Paws Coven | $6.99 | 43 67% | 1.3k | $9.0k (exactly $9,017) | Wintercrow Games | |
| | Eat the Rich: Greed Games | $7.99 | 26 96% | 780 | $6.2k (exactly $6,232) | Maccima Games | |
| | DEATHMARK | · EA | $4.99 | 35 91% | 1.1k | $5.2k (exactly $5,240) | Wired Creations Studio |
| | Ritual Night | · EA | $4.99 | 27 85% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Outfox Games |
| | Catolonizer | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Alin Games |
| | Prison Gambit | · EA | $5.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | Wolven Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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