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Should I ship an Action Roguelike Sailing game?
Sailing + Action Roguelike
Only 19 developers shipped an Action Roguelike Sailing 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.. 21 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×334 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 21 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $36k (exactly $36,264) |
| Top 5% | $210k (exactly $209,943) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 20% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sailing
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Action Roguelike
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Sailing, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Surreal, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,300 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sailing with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Resource ManagementPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor 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 
VR Sailing 2024 · $74k | 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 |
| | VR Sailing | $7.99 | 307 96% | 9.2k | $74k (exactly $73,588) | HFRK. | |
 | FISH FEAR ME | $9.99 | 214 84% | 6.4k | $64k (exactly $64,136) | HEATHER FLOWERS | |
 | Nautical Survival | $7.99 | 179 97% | 5.4k | $43k (exactly $42,906) | Idan Rooze | |
 | Cursed Crew | · EA older | $20.00 | 70 80% | 2.1k | $42k (exactly $42,000) | Cracklewock Games |
 | Curse of Pirates | $9.99 | 121 80% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $36,264) | Funky Parrot | |
 | Captains of the Wacky Waters | older | $19.99 | 20 95% | 600 | $12k (exactly $11,994) | Ceiling Games |
 | Fluffy Sailors | $12.99 | 29 79% | 870 | $11k (exactly $11,301) | Skaldery Games | |
 | Pirates: Rogue's Fortune | · EA | $12.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.9k (exactly $3,897) | NINPO Game Studio |
 | Hentai Pirates Survivors | $4.99 | 24 91% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Pinky Pads | |
 | Lord O' Pirates | $4.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | One Flow Man | |
 | Samurai's Odyssey | · EA | $7.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | CODEUM GAMES, 11Gen |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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