Games › Crafting › Crafting + Pirates
Should I ship a Pirate Crafting game?
Crafting + Pirates
Only 17 developers shipped a Pirate Crafting 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, Windrose, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 38 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $10k, ×16 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $43M, ×68614 the market median. Revenue is up 810% on the market; 38 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
|---|---|
| Median | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 25% | $156k (exactly $156,496) |
| Top 5% | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 38 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 up 810% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Exploration, PvE
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 54,564 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Windrose 2026 · EA · $43M 
ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M 
Skull and Bones 2024 · $4.2M 
Age of Water 2025 · $2.6M 
Salt 2: Shores of Gold 2025 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Windrose | · EA | $29.99 | 47,893 86% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) | Kraken Express |
| | ATLAS | · EA older | $29.99 | 37,119 46% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $33,395,964) | Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games |
| | Skull and Bones | older | $29.99 | 4,650 65% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) | Ubisoft Singapore |
| | Age of Water | $29.99 | 2,883 72% | 86k | $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) | Three Whales Studio | |
| | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
 | Out of Reach | older | $14.99 | 2,390 54% | 72k | $1.1M (exactly $1,074,783) | Space Boat Studios |
 | Salt | older | $14.99 | 1,959 75% | 59k | $881k (exactly $880,962) | Lavaboots Studios |
 | Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands | older | $24.99 | 785 72% | 24k | $589k (exactly $588,514) | Alchemist Interactive |
 | The Brew Barons | older | $21.99 | 828 75% | 25k | $546k (exactly $546,232) | Lifetap Studios |
 | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey | $14.99 | 348 79% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | World of Poly | |
 | Forsaken Isle | $8.99 | 462 70% | 14k | $125k (exactly $124,601) | Smoodlez | |
 | ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles | · EA | $8.99 | 192 96% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $51,782) | Tomas Sala |
 | Dreaming Isles | $6.99 | 79 51% | 2.4k | $17k (exactly $16,566) | YawningDad | |
 | Pirate Cove Simulator | $9.99 | 34 61% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Kool2Play | |
 | Trident's Tale | $19.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | 3DClouds |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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