Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Action RPG?
Action RPG + Underwater
Only 13 developers shipped an Underwater Action RPG 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, Monster Hunter Wilds, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150. 20 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper, while revenue is down 100% on the market.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $33,452) |
| Top 5% | $241M (exactly $241,120,505) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 100% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action RPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Underwater
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 52% positive over 203,821 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 6 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NavalFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + WesternFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + Walking SimulatorLong shot
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
Comparable games
Monster Hunter Wilds 2025 · $241M 
Maneater 2021 · $26M 
Another Crab's Treasure 2024 · $15M 
BioShock® 2 2010 · $6.9M 
IfSunSets 2024 · EA · $1.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Monster Hunter Wilds | $39.99 | 200,984 52% | 6.0M | $241M (exactly $241,120,505) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | 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 |
| | BioShock® 2 | older | $19.99 | 11,467 88% | 344k | $6.9M (exactly $6,876,760) | 2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2… (2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes, 2K Australia) |
| | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
 | Dangerous Waters | older | $14.99 | 353 79% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | Sonalysts |
 | Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey | $14.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | World of Poly | |
 | Lumione | older | $11.99 | 418 73% | 13k | $150k (exactly $150,355) | Glimmer Studio |
 | Islands of the Caliph | older | $9.99 | 272 88% | 8.2k | $82k (exactly $81,518) | Schmidt Workshops |
 | SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL | $11.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $33k (exactly $33,452) | GasGod Games, GLUE MAN | |
 | Deep Blue: Devour and Evolve | $8.99 | 100 83% | 3.0k | $27k (exactly $26,970) | ZHOUZEMING | |
 | Dragons Reef | $19.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Radoslaw Kutowinski | |
 | Octopus Invasion | $4.99 | 7 28% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Supercode Games | |
 | Marimo-VS-IAS: Our Friends | $19.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | JoyPlot | |
 | Rusted Sea | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Meerkatapult Games | |
 | Rapax | · EA | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | 大複 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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