Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Character Customization

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization game?

Character Customization

Of 2,606 developers who shipped a 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.. 5,631 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2084 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 5,631 games are announced against 1,539 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 5,631 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,606
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.7k → $3.5k → $3.0k → $3.5k → $2.9k → $2.2k → $2.4k (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,606
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,097)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $25,187)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545)
Developers, 2 yr 2,606
Released games 7,549
Announced 5,631
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 flat on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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

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
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,504,920 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 1,431 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 5,631 games are announced against 1,539 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Character Customization

184 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Character Customization + Political Sim Poor odds $6.2k 12 devs
  2. Character Customization + Turn-Based Combat Poor odds $6.2k 208 devs
  3. Character Customization + Hex Grid Poor odds $6.2k 12 devs
  4. Character Customization + Exploration Poor odds $6.2k 600 devs
  5. Basketball + Character Customization Poor odds $6.0k 12 devs
  6. Character Customization + Resource Management Poor odds $5.9k 162 devs
  7. Fighting + Character Customization Poor odds $5.9k 23 devs
  8. Character Customization + Wargame Poor odds $5.8k 36 devs
  9. RTS + Character Customization Poor odds $5.8k 35 devs
  10. Automation + Character Customization Poor odds $5.6k 87 devs
  11. Character Customization + Strategy RPG Poor odds $5.4k 162 devs
  12. Character Customization + RPG Poor odds $5.4k 831 devs
  13. Character Customization + Loot Poor odds $5.4k 177 devs
  14. Character Customization + Local Co-Op Poor odds $5.3k 112 devs
  15. Character Customization + Fishing Poor odds $5.3k 60 devs
  16. Character Customization + Sailing Poor odds $5.3k 18 devs
  17. Character Customization + Visual Novel Poor odds $5.1k 113 devs
  18. Character Customization + Turn-Based Tactics Poor odds $5.0k 166 devs
  19. FPS + Character Customization Poor odds $4.8k 134 devs
  20. Character Customization + Desktop Companion Poor odds $4.5k 44 devs
  21. Character Customization + Roguelike Deckbuilder Poor odds $4.5k 13 devs
  22. Character Customization + Turn-Based Strategy Poor odds $4.3k 160 devs
  23. Character Customization + Hunting Poor odds $4.0k 33 devs
  24. Character Customization + Simulation Poor odds $4.0k 741 devs
  25. Character Customization + Survival Horror Poor odds $4.0k 65 devs
  26. Social Deduction + Character Customization Poor odds $4.0k 15 devs
  27. Character Customization + Real Time Tactics Poor odds $3.8k 64 devs
  28. Football (Soccer) + Character Customization Poor odds $3.8k 32 devs
  29. Character Customization + Dungeon Crawler Poor odds $3.7k 211 devs
  30. Action RPG + Character Customization Poor odds $3.6k 343 devs
  31. Character Customization + Creature Collector Poor odds $3.6k 129 devs
  32. Character Customization + Adventure Poor odds $3.6k 808 devs
  33. Character Customization + Choices Matter Poor odds $3.6k 317 devs
  34. Character Customization + Time Management Poor odds $3.5k 130 devs
  35. Character Customization + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $3.1k 129 devs
  36. Class-Based + Character Customization Poor odds $2.9k 113 devs
  37. Character Customization + Investigation Poor odds $2.9k 43 devs
  38. Co-op Campaign + Character Customization Poor odds $2.9k 40 devs
  39. Character Customization + Roguelite Poor odds $2.9k 304 devs
  40. Character Customization + Inventory Management Poor odds $2.9k 156 devs
  41. Character Customization + Swordplay Poor odds $2.7k 51 devs
  42. Character Customization + Grid-Based Movement Poor odds $2.7k 55 devs
  43. Character Customization + Multiple Endings Poor odds $2.7k 155 devs
  44. Character Customization + Driving Poor odds $2.7k 99 devs
  45. Character Customization + Dynamic Narration Poor odds $2.7k 23 devs
  46. Character Customization + Hack and Slash Poor odds $2.7k 205 devs
  47. Character Customization + Local Multiplayer Poor odds $2.7k 139 devs
  48. Action-Adventure + Character Customization Poor odds $2.5k 419 devs
  49. Character Customization + Auto Battler Poor odds $2.5k 79 devs
  50. Character Customization + Sports Poor odds $2.4k 204 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cyberpunk 2077 2020 · $1.6B ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B Baldur's Gate 3 2023 · $1.4B DARK SOULS™ III 2016 · $500M Hogwarts Legacy 2023 · $495M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cyberpunk 2077 older $59.99 883,400 87% 27M $1.6B (exactly $1,589,854,980) CD PROJEKT RED
ELDEN RING older $59.99 831,470 93% 25M $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) FromSoftware, Inc.
Baldur's Gate 3 older $59.99 755,010 96% 23M $1.4B (exactly $1,358,791,497) Larian Studios
DARK SOULS™ III older $59.99 278,034 94% 8.3M $500M (exactly $500,377,790) FromSoftware, Inc.
Hogwarts Legacy older $59.99 274,801 89% 8.2M $495M (exactly $494,559,360) Avalanche Software
7 Days to Die older $44.99 273,589 87% 8.2M $369M (exactly $369,263,073) The Fun Pimps
ARC Raiders $39.99 299,346 82% 9.0M $359M (exactly $359,125,396) Embark Studios
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord older $49.99 230,490 87% 6.9M $346M (exactly $345,665,853) TaleWorlds Entertainment
Monster Hunter: World older $29.99 317,068 89% 9.5M $285M (exactly $285,266,080) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 $49.99 181,667 95% 5.5M $272M (exactly $272,446,000) Sandfall Interactive
Monster Hunter Wilds $39.99 200,984 52% 6.0M $241M (exactly $241,120,505) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Schedule I · EA $19.99 288,939 97% 8.7M $173M (exactly $173,276,718) TVGS
Path of Exile 2 · EA $29.99 167,730 76% 5.0M $151M (exactly $150,906,681) Grinding Gear Games
SCUM $44.99 98,554 74% 3.0M $133M (exactly $133,018,334) Gamepires
Dune: Awakening $49.99 66,844 71% 2.0M $100M (exactly $100,245,947) Funcom
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered $49.99 59,690 76% 1.8M $90M (exactly $89,517,093) Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuos
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard $59.99 41,393 67% 1.2M $74M (exactly $74,494,982) BioWare

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