Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Trading

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Trading game?

Character Customization + Trading

Of 26 developers who shipped a Character Customization Trading 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.. 137 more are announced, ×7.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $60k, ×96 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×3405 the market median. Revenue is up 640% on the market; 137 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 96.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 640% on the market, 137 announced, ×7.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Trading
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $192k → $179 → $8.2k → $77k → $29k → $87k (still earning) → $76k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Trading: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Median $60k (exactly $60,404)
Top 25% $206k (exactly $205,963)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 98
Announced 137
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $12.99

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 640% on the market, supply 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 39%, 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
Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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, Trading; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action RPG, Exploration, Open World
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 67% positive over 38,099 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.2k, median $60k, 1 in 4 over $200k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.2k. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 137 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.2 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

NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M Ghosts of Tabor 2023 · EA · $6.9M The Guild 3 2022 · $6.4M Mad Games Tycoon 2 2023 · $5.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NBA 2K25 older $69.99 30,969 60% 929k $65M (exactly $65,025,609) Visual Concepts
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
Ghosts of Tabor · EA older $24.99 9,140 70% 274k $6.9M (exactly $6,852,258) Combat Waffle Studios
The Guild 3 older $29.99 7,120 60% 214k $6.4M (exactly $6,405,864) Purple Lamp, GolemLabs
Mad Games Tycoon 2 older $24.99 7,355 93% 221k $5.5M (exactly $5,514,044) Eggcode
《蜀山：初章》买断版 older $24.99 5,772 74% 173k $4.3M (exactly $4,327,268) 重楼工作室
King of Retail older $25.99 2,982 88% 89k $2.3M (exactly $2,325,065) Freaking Games
SpiritVale · EA $14.99 4,755 48% 143k $2.1M (exactly $2,138,324) Baikun Interactive
Roadside Research · EA $14.99 3,991 85% 120k $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) Cybernetic Walrus
Cozy Caravan $19.99 1,247 93% 37k $748k (exactly $747,826) 5 Lives Studios
Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates $19.99 638 70% 19k $383k (exactly $382,609) ReCon Team
Concubine · EA $14.99 517 81% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) Upgrade Entertainment
Lugh World · EA $14.99 458 68% 14k $206k (exactly $205,963) Lughsoft
Rise of Industry 2 $34.99 154 55% 4.6k $162k (exactly $161,654) SomaSim
I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator · EA $12.99 398 90% 12k $155k (exactly $155,101) Bunch'o'Nerds
CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) $9.99 290 67% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) 悟空实验室

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