Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Sailing
Should I ship a Sailing Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Sailing
Of 39 developers who shipped a Sailing Action-Adventure 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.. 103 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×7.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $43M, ×68614 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 103 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) |
| Top 25% | $74k (exactly $73,588) |
| Top 5% | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 98 |
| Announced | 103 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Sailing
- 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
- Action-Adventure, Sailing; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 85,773 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 103 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | $59.99 | 26,652 81% | 800k | $48M (exactly $47,965,604) | Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, U… (Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft India, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Romania) | |
| | Windrose | · EA | $29.99 | 47,893 86% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) | Kraken Express |
| | Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | $59.99 | 6,584 88% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,849,225) | RGG Studio | |
| | Ys X: Nordics | $59.99 | 890 76% | 27k | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
| | Tempest: Pirate Action RPG | older | $14.99 | 1,778 69% | 53k | $800k (exactly $799,567) | HeroCraft |
| | Corsairs Legacy - Pirate Action RPG & Sea Battles | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $656k (exactly $656,072) | Mauris, Tech-5 UG |
| | Breakwaters: Crystal Tides | · EA older | $19.99 | 866 63% | 26k | $519k (exactly $519,340) | Soaring Pixels Games |
| | King of Seas | older | $24.99 | 603 57% | 18k | $452k (exactly $452,069) | 3DClouds |
| | Sail Forth | older | $19.99 | 604 92% | 18k | $362k (exactly $362,219) | Festive Vector |
| | Ys X: Proud Nordics | $69.99 | 168 75% | 5.0k | $353k (exactly $352,750) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | Windward Horizon | $19.99 | 401 79% | 12k | $240k (exactly $240,480) | Tasharen Entertainment Inc. | |
| | DAVY x JONES | · EA | $17.99 | 389 82% | 12k | $210k (exactly $209,943) | PARASIGHT |
| | Captain Blood | $24.99 | 266 77% | 8.0k | $199k (exactly $199,420) | Seawolf Studio, General Arcade | |
| | Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey | $14.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | World of Poly |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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