Do I ship it?

GamesCharacter CustomizationCharacter Customization + Thriller

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Thriller Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Thriller

Of 24 developers who shipped a Thriller Character Customization 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.. 56 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $400k, ×642 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 56 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Thriller
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.0k → $1.1k → $20k → $36k → $139k (still earning) → $270 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Thriller: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $6.6k (exactly $6,593)
Top 25% $139k (exactly $139,204)
Top 5% $403k (exactly $403,471)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 59
Announced 56
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 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Thriller
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 Action, Choices Matter, Open World
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Dark Comedy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 9,709 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $6.6k, 1 in 4 over $130k, 1 in 20 over $400k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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
ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies $39.99 2,911 83% 87k $3.5M (exactly $3,492,327) ZA/UM
That's not my Neighbor $2.99 4,498 88% 135k $403k (exactly $403,471) Nachosama Games
Lakeview Valley older $14.99 710 82% 21k $319k (exactly $319,287) Roope Tamminen
Haydee 3 $29.99 321 84% 9.6k $289k (exactly $288,804) Haydee Interactive
KILLER INN · EA $9.99 670 44% 20k $201k (exactly $200,799) Square Enix, Tactic Studios
Spectral Scream older $9.99 654 78% 20k $196k (exactly $196,004) STOIC Ent.
Kingdom of Night $19.99 326 86% 9.8k $196k (exactly $195,502) Friends of Safety
Haunting Havens $11.99 387 71% 12k $139k (exactly $139,204) Ayup Games
the cabin game · EA $11.99 362 86% 11k $130k (exactly $130,211) Twisted Corridor👻
Drops of Death $11.99 100 92% 3.0k $36k (exactly $35,970) Snowhaven Studios, Crystal Game Works
Kill The Clock · EA $14.99 45 88% 1.4k $20k (exactly $20,236) Happy Slugs
Containment Corp, Inc. · EA $6.99 89 89% 2.7k $19k (exactly $18,663) Lich & Lily

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