Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter CustomizationCharacter Customization + Split Screen

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Split Screen game?

Character Customization + Split Screen

Of 46 developers who shipped a Character Customization Split Screen game 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.. 86 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×474 the market median. Revenue is up 160% on the market; 86 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 160% on the market, 86 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Split Screen
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $19k → $22k → $3.6k → $7.2k → $1.1k → $3.9k → $2.4k (still earning) → $897 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Split Screen: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $9.9k (exactly $9,897)
Top 5% $297k (exactly $297,451)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 147
Announced 86
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 160% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Split Screen
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Split Screen; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Multiplayer, PvP, Racing
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, 3D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 13,656 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $9.8k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Need for Speed™ Heat older $69.99 128,933 84% 3.9M $271M (exactly $270,720,620) Ghost Games
Need for Speed™ Unbound older $69.99 49,862 61% 1.5M $105M (exactly $104,695,241) Criterion Games
Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition older $39.99 27,485 88% 825k $33M (exactly $32,973,754) Larian Studios
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds $69.99 11,479 93% 344k $24M (exactly $24,102,456) Sonic Team
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
The Escapists 2 older $19.99 26,452 90% 794k $16M (exactly $15,863,264) Team17, Mouldy Toof Studios
LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame older $19.99 12,850 89% 386k $7.7M (exactly $7,706,145) Traveller's Tales
LEGO® DC Super-Villains older $39.99 5,798 91% 174k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,861) TT Games, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Amazing Frog? · EA older $19.99 11,169 94% 335k $6.7M (exactly $6,698,049) Fayju
Tony Hawk's™ Pro Skater™ 1 + 2 older $39.99 4,497 90% 135k $5.4M (exactly $5,395,051) Vicarious Visions, Iron Galaxy Studios
MotoGP™25 $49.99 592 74% 18k $888k (exactly $887,822) Milestone S.r.l.
MotoGP™26 $59.99 225 64% 6.8k $405k (exactly $404,932) Milestone S.r.l.
WheelMates $19.99 496 75% 15k $297k (exactly $297,451) Firevolt
Pure Badminton $19.99 323 81% 9.7k $194k (exactly $193,703) DS SOFT
Taival · EA $19.99 134 83% 4.0k $80k (exactly $80,360) Bonobo Software
Slip & Skid $12.99 141 97% 4.2k $55k (exactly $54,948) NHOGS Interactive
Teeto $17.99 90 94% 2.7k $49k (exactly $48,573) Eat Pant Games
Slopecrashers $17.99 82 93% 2.5k $44k (exactly $44,255) byteparrot
Bonelords $6.99 94 92% 2.8k $20k (exactly $19,712) Z0 Game Studios

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