Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Underwater
Of 57 developers who shipped an Underwater 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.. 144 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 $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×1710 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 144 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 57 |
| Released games | 156 |
| Announced | 144 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- Underwater
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 36,304 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different setting or mood, 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
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced 2026 · $48M 
Maneater 2021 · $26M 
Another Crab's Treasure 2024 · $15M 
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated 2020 · $13M 
Survival: Fountain of Youth 2024 · $3.4M | 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) | |
| | Maneater | older | $39.99 | 21,790 87% | 654k | $26M (exactly $26,141,463) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | Another Crab's Treasure | older | $29.99 | 16,863 93% | 506k | $15M (exactly $15,171,641) | Aggro Crab |
| | SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated | older | $29.99 | 14,439 94% | 433k | $13M (exactly $12,990,768) | Purple Lamp |
| | Survival: Fountain of Youth | older | $27.99 | 4,095 85% | 123k | $3.4M (exactly $3,438,572) | Odinsoft Inc. |
 | FAR: Changing Tides | older | $19.99 | 5,077 92% | 152k | $3.0M (exactly $3,044,677) | Okomotive |
 | Tomb Raider: Underworld | older | $8.99 | 6,173 76% | 185k | $1.7M (exactly $1,664,858) | Crystal Dynamics |
 | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
 | Northern Journey | older | $11.99 | 3,500 96% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,258,950) | Slid Studio |
 | Murky Divers | $8.99 | 3,981 87% | 119k | $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) | Embers | |
 | DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain | $17.99 | 1,255 91% | 38k | $677k (exactly $677,323) | Drop Rate Studio | |
 | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey | $14.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | World of Poly | |
 | Subterror | $7.99 | 397 90% | 12k | $95k (exactly $95,161) | Team Monumental | |
 | Following Seas | · EA | $14.99 | 153 76% | 4.6k | $69k (exactly $68,804) | Whipstaff Games |
 | Port of Jumanah | $11.99 | 145 100% | 4.4k | $52k (exactly $52,156) | Red Dunes Games, Agate | |
 | Deep Blue: Devour and Evolve | $8.99 | 100 83% | 3.0k | $27k (exactly $26,970) | ZHOUZEMING |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.