Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Transhumanism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Transhumanist Character Customization game?

Character Customization + Transhumanism

Only 13 developers shipped a Transhumanist Character Customization 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, Caves of Qud, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.9k, ×4.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $10M, ×17037 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 23 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Transhumanism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $29k → $14k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Transhumanism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,139)
Median $2.9k (exactly $2,936)
Top 25% $56k (exactly $56,212)
Top 5% $11M (exactly $10,699,232)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 27
Announced 23
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 100% on the market, supply 125% 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
Transhumanism
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Combat
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 14,019 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $2.9k, 1 in 4 over $56k, 1 in 20 over $10M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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

Caves of Qud 2024 · $11M Phoenix Point 2020 · $4.0M Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 2025 · $3.9M Creature Lab 2023 · $206k The Anacrusis 2023 · $185k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Caves of Qud $29.99 11,892 94% 357k $11M (exactly $10,699,232) Freehold Games
Phoenix Point older $24.99 5,375 73% 161k $4.0M (exactly $4,029,637) Snapshot Games Inc.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
Creature Lab older $19.99 343 51% 10k $206k (exactly $205,697) Image Power S.A.
The Anacrusis older $9.99 617 68% 19k $185k (exactly $184,915) Stray Bombay
HELL GALAXY $24.99 89 74% 2.7k $67k (exactly $66,723) Italian Games Factory
Revolgear Zero $14.99 125 98% 3.8k $56k (exactly $56,212) Bikkuri Software
Super Adventure Hand older $12.99 75 96% 2.3k $29k (exactly $29,228) Devm Games
Acolyte older $10.99 55 74% 1.7k $18k (exactly $18,134) Superstring
HoverGrease 2 $19.99 24 83% 720 $14k (exactly $14,393) Altergaze
Imago Season $9.50 19 89% 570 $5.4k (exactly $5,415) Lunar Finch
Posthuman: Guardians vs PSION $6.99 14 42% 420 $2.9k (exactly $2,936) Choice of Games
Dash'n'Drops · EA $6.99 12 91% 360 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Le Moulin aux Bulles
Meridian $9.99 4 100% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Turn Based Hedgehog
Digital Humans · EA $18.99 2 50% 60 $1.1k (exactly $1,139) binary.games

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