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Should I ship an Action Roguelike Naval Combat game?
Naval Combat + Action Roguelike
Only 18 developers shipped an Action Roguelike Naval Combat game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, DAVY x JONES, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×334 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 27 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $3,979) |
| Top 5% | $210k (exactly $209,943) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 27 |
| 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 down 60% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Naval Combat
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Action Roguelike
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Naval Combat, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 916 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Naval Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + World War IIFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Pixel Piracy 2014 · $2.6M 
King of Seas 2021 · $452k 
DAVY x JONES 2025 · EA · $210k 
Sea of Survivors 2023 · EA · $87k 
Airships: Lost Flotilla 2025 · $78k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Pixel Piracy | older | $14.99 | 5,713 65% | 171k | $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) | Vitali Kirpu |
| | King of Seas | older | $24.99 | 603 57% | 18k | $452k (exactly $452,069) | 3DClouds |
| | DAVY x JONES | · EA | $17.99 | 389 82% | 12k | $210k (exactly $209,943) | PARASIGHT |
| | Sea of Survivors | · EA older | $6.99 | 415 81% | 12k | $87k (exactly $87,026) | Nah Yeah Games |
| | Airships: Lost Flotilla | $8.99 | 290 92% | 8.7k | $78k (exactly $78,213) | David Stark | |
 | Curse of Pirates | $9.99 | 121 80% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $36,264) | Funky Parrot | |
 | Fluffy Sailors | $12.99 | 29 79% | 870 | $11k (exactly $11,301) | Skaldery Games | |
 | Swords and Sandals Pirates | older | $6.99 | 45 68% | 1.4k | $9.4k (exactly $9,436) | Whiskeybarrel Studios |
 | Maritime Calling | older | $7.99 | 31 51% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Tiamat Games |
 | Ruiga Pirates | · EA older | $4.99 | 38 57% | 1.1k | $5.7k (exactly $5,689) | Valentware Games LTD |
 | Ocean Survivors | $3.49 | 38 97% | 1.1k | $4.0k (exactly $3,979) | Aremji Games | |
 | Pirates: Rogue's Fortune | · EA | $12.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.9k (exactly $3,897) | NINPO Game Studio |
 | Lord O' Pirates | $4.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | One Flow Man | |
 | Kamikaze Survivors | $9.99 | 9 77% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | DaboSoft | |
 | Ore Bastards | · EA | $8.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | INDIELLIGENT |
 | Pirate Twist | · EA | $4.67 | 5 100% | 150 | $700 (exactly $700) | BTG Labs |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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