Games › Economy › Economy + Pirates
Should I ship a Pirate Economy game?
Economy + Pirates
Only 11 developers shipped a Pirate Economy 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, Corsair Cove, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $3.6M, ×5781 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,350) |
| Top 5% | $3.6M (exactly $3,630,292) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Economy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 84% positive over 3,345 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
Comparable games
Corsair Cove 2026 · $3.6M 
Sid Meier's Pirates! 2005 · $1.9M 
Port Royale 4 2020 · $1.7M 
Windward 2015 · $800k 
Blood and Gold: Caribbean! 2015 · $712k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Corsair Cove | $39.99 | 3,026 85% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,630,292) | Limbic Entertainment | |
| | Sid Meier's Pirates! | older | $9.99 | 6,198 94% | 186k | $1.9M (exactly $1,857,541) | Firaxis Games |
| | Port Royale 4 | older | $39.99 | 1,405 56% | 42k | $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) | Gaming Minds |
| | Windward | older | $9.99 | 2,668 79% | 80k | $800k (exactly $799,600) | Tasharen Entertainment Inc. |
| | Blood and Gold: Caribbean! | older | $19.99 | 1,188 59% | 36k | $712k (exactly $712,444) | Snowbird Games |
 | The Brew Barons | older | $21.99 | 828 75% | 25k | $546k (exactly $546,232) | Lifetap Studios |
 | Port Royale 3 | older | $14.99 | 1,204 72% | 36k | $541k (exactly $541,439) | Gaming Minds Studios |
 | Republic of Pirates | older | $24.99 | 420 70% | 13k | $315k (exactly $314,874) | Crazy Goat Games |
 | Tropico Reloaded | older | $6.99 | 816 88% | 24k | $171k (exactly $171,115) | PopTop Software, BreakAway Games, Frog… (PopTop Software, BreakAway Games, Frog City Software) |
 | Patrician III | older | $4.99 | 893 81% | 27k | $134k (exactly $133,682) | Ascaron Entertainment ltd. |
 | High Seas, High Profits! | $14.99 | 165 86% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | lexy.zip | |
 | Deep Space Outpost | $15.99 | 32 71% | 960 | $15k (exactly $15,350) | Niris Games | |
 | The Road To Harvest: Food From Across The Ocean | $5.99 | 75 76% | 2.3k | $13k (exactly $13,478) | MuccyGames | |
 | Pirate Cove Simulator | $9.99 | 34 61% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Kool2Play | |
 | Trade Empire | · EA | $9.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Valengate |
 | Pirate Treasure Hunt | $3.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $479 (exactly $479) | Vexos Games | |
 | Albert's Ark Idle | $4.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | Albert Tross Productions | |
 | Star Corsairs: Fractured Frontier | · EA | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Tagir Nabiullin |
 | Corsair Fleet: Tides of Plunder | $5.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Velron Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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