Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Submarine

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Submarine Action game?

Action + Submarine

Of 31 developers who shipped a Submarine Action 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, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $3.7M, ×5986 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 56 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 56 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Submarine
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $24k → $28k → $21k → $4.3k → $2.8k → $12k → $300 (still earning) → $59 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Submarine: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,313)
Top 5% $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 99
Announced 56
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Submarine
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Submarine; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvE, Shooter
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,543 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $3.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Barotrauma 2023 · $65M UBOAT 2024 · $23M Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age 2024 · EA · $9.2M Cold Waters 2017 · $5.5M Abyssus 2025 · $3.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Barotrauma older $34.99 61,905 94% 1.9M $65M (exactly $64,981,678) FakeFish, Undertow Games
UBOAT older $29.99 25,568 83% 767k $23M (exactly $23,003,530) Deep Water Studio
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age · EA $49.99 6,109 90% 183k $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) Triassic Games
Cold Waters older $39.99 4,603 87% 138k $5.5M (exactly $5,522,219) Killerfish Games
Abyssus $24.99 5,014 84% 150k $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) DoubleMoose Games
We Need To Go Deeper older $15.99 4,652 86% 140k $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) Deli Interactive LLC
Wolfpack · EA older $34.99 1,862 88% 56k $2.0M (exactly $1,954,541) Usurpator AB
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter older $29.99 852 73% 26k $767k (exactly $766,544) Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
Silent Hunter® III older $9.99 2,544 87% 76k $762k (exactly $762,437) Ubisoft
IronWolf VR older $19.99 1,087 94% 33k $652k (exactly $651,874) Ionized Studios
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival $9.99 826 77% 25k $248k (exactly $247,552) RetroStyle Games
Subterror $7.99 397 90% 12k $95k (exactly $95,161) Team Monumental
X-Out: Resurfaced $19.99 41 95% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) KRITZELKRATZ 3000, Rainbow Arts
CRUSH DEPTH $7.99 49 97% 1.5k $12k (exactly $11,745) Earth Giant
Critical Fishing $2.99 50 96% 1.5k $4.5k (exactly $4,485) lazygun
The Hookmarine $5.99 24 100% 720 $4.3k (exactly $4,313) Elendow
Uboat Attack $7.99 14 85% 420 $3.4k (exactly $3,356) VOODOO
Submeris $4.99 19 57% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) OxygenStudio

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