Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Space Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Space Sim?

Character Customization + Space Sim

Of 25 developers who shipped a Character Customization Space Sim 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.. 53 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 53 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper, while revenue is up 380% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 380% on the market, 53 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Space Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $25k → $45k → $299 → $120 → $299 (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Space Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,556)
Top 5% $23k (exactly $23,388)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 65
Announced 53
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 380% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Space Sim; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, PvE, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 6,713 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.5k, 1 in 20 over $23k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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

Starfield 2023 · $173M Void Crew 2024 · $4.9M PULSAR: Lost Colony 2021 · $2.6M Redout 2 2022 · $700k Space Wars 2020 · $95k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Starfield older $49.99 115,202 58% 3.5M $173M (exactly $172,768,439) Bethesda Game Studios
Void Crew $24.99 6,573 86% 197k $4.9M (exactly $4,927,778) Hutlihut Games
PULSAR: Lost Colony older $19.99 4,409 89% 132k $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) Leafy Games
Redout 2 older $19.99 1,168 82% 35k $700k (exactly $700,450) 34BigThings srl
Space Wars older $29.99 106 86% 3.2k $95k (exactly $95,368) High and Wide
Space Cats Tactics older $14.99 100 74% 3.0k $45k (exactly $44,970) Mitzi Games, Alex Nicola
The Infinite Black 2 older $6.99 201 87% 6.0k $42k (exactly $42,150) Spellbook
Starlight Drifter older $19.99 46 67% 1.4k $28k (exactly $27,586) Dharker Studios
A Long Journey to an Uncertain End older $24.99 33 75% 990 $25k (exactly $24,740) Crispy Creative
TAXINAUT $19.99 39 87% 1.2k $23k (exactly $23,388) mosgrom
Deep Dark Forest $7.99 41 87% 1.2k $9.8k (exactly $9,828) pixiangames
Star Titans : War of the Galaxy $14.99 14 92% 420 $6.3k (exactly $6,296) Mediawork
A-Spec First Assault $14.99 9 55% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) Digitum Software
The Chaser's Voyage $19.99 3 100% 90 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Bright at Midnight: A Game Studio
RoboDeal Simulator $3.99 13 92% 390 $1.6k (exactly $1,556) Dual Cluster Studios
Space War Economy Idle $4.99 9 66% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) Chasm Studios
Spiritus Astrum · EA $4.99 8 62% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Phoenix Game Development
Ore Bastards · EA $8.99 4 75% 120 $1.1k (exactly $1,079) INDIELLIGENT

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