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Should I ship a Character Customization Wargame?
Character Customization + Wargame
Of 36 developers who shipped a Character Customization Wargame 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.. 74 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.8k, ×9.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $230; 1 in 20 cleared $3.9M, ×6352 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 74 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $225 (exactly $225) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.8k (exactly $5,846) |
| Top 25% | $48k (exactly $47,952) |
| Top 5% | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 132 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Wargame
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization, Wargame; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 15,310 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $230. 7 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Customization with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Real-TimeStrong odds
- + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + BikesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + TypingFair
Comparable games
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV 2020 · $24M 
Kingdom Heroes 8 2021 · $12M 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII 2016 · $10M 
Sprocket 2021 · EA · $7.4M 
ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE 2024 · $5.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV | older | $59.99 | 13,086 62% | 393k | $24M (exactly $23,550,874) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Kingdom Heroes 8 | older | $29.99 | 12,793 55% | 384k | $12M (exactly $11,509,862) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. |
| | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII | older | $59.99 | 5,828 57% | 175k | $10M (exactly $10,488,652) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Sprocket | · EA older | $19.99 | 12,336 92% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,397,899) | Hamish Dunn |
| | ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS 8 REMAKE | $59.99 | 3,118 49% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,611,465) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI with Power Up Kit | older | $39.99 | 3,754 92% | 113k | $4.5M (exactly $4,503,674) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Heroes' Vow: Three Kingdoms | · EA | $19.99 | 6,652 88% | 200k | $4.0M (exactly $3,989,204) | Free Wing |
 | Carrier Command 2 | older | $29.99 | 3,444 82% | 103k | $3.1M (exactly $3,098,567) | Geometa |
 | NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Sphere of Influence - Ascension | older | $59.99 | 814 73% | 24k | $1.5M (exactly $1,464,956) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | NOBUNAGA'S AMBITION: Taishi | older | $59.99 | 804 51% | 24k | $1.4M (exactly $1,446,959) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Ukrainian Warfare: Gostomel Heroes | $14.99 | 1,921 90% | 58k | $864k (exactly $863,874) | Cats Who Play | |
 | Badlands Crew - Drive, Command, Conquer | $18.99 | 1,126 78% | 34k | $641k (exactly $641,482) | Runner Duck | |
 | Heroes of Valor | · EA | $14.99 | 1,324 90% | 40k | $595k (exactly $595,403) | Fancy Cat Interactive |
 | 👑Idle Calibur：Zero💕（选王之剑：零） | $10.99 | 445 80% | 13k | $147k (exactly $146,716) | 绝汪 | |
 | Mage and Monsters II | $8.99 | 372 82% | 11k | $100k (exactly $100,328) | Lasse Zacho Malver | |
 | Death Ring: Second Impact | · EA | $19.99 | 163 78% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $97,751) | Rouge Mecha |
 | Age Of Warbots | $9.99 | 160 83% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $47,952) | VDimension | |
 | BURNED HORIZONS | · EA | $44.99 | 29 34% | 870 | $39k (exactly $39,141) | BURNED HORIZONS STUDIO |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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