Do I ship it?

GamesEconomyEconomy + Sailing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sailing Economy game?

Economy + Sailing

Only 17 developers shipped a Sailing 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, High Seas, High Profits!, 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, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $74k, ×118 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 37 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Economy + Sailing
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $87k → $5.4k → $1.8k → $539 (still earning) → $8.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Economy + Sailing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $838 (exactly $838)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,336)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,478)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $74,200)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 42
Announced 37
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 20% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Economy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Sailing
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Economy, Sailing; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Management, Strategy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Isometric, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 816 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $74k.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair116 devs · median $22k · 125 announced
  2. + Football (Soccer)Fair21 devs · median $6.8k · 29 announced
  3. + ScienceFair39 devs · median $5.9k · 39 announced
  4. + MiningFair116 devs · median $5.0k · 173 announced
  5. + LootFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  6. + CollectathonFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  7. + God GameFair47 devs · median $2.8k · 58 announced
  8. + Auto BattlerFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  9. + IdlerFair441 devs · median $2.3k · 589 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair408 devs · median $2.2k · 612 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  12. + Strategy RPGFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced

All 161 pairs on the Economy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ships At Sea · EA older $24.99 2,479 69% 74k $1.9M (exactly $1,858,506) Misc Games
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
Port Royale 3 older $14.99 1,204 72% 36k $541k (exactly $541,439) Gaming Minds Studios
SeaOrama: World of Shipping older $19.99 382 58% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Hidden Tower, SeaOrama
Tortuga - A Pirate's Tale older $24.99 132 51% 4.0k $99k (exactly $98,960) Gaming Minds Studios
Sea of Survivors · EA older $6.99 415 81% 12k $87k (exactly $87,026) Nah Yeah Games
Yacht Mechanic Simulator older $14.99 186 22% 5.6k $84k (exactly $83,644) Punch Punk Games
High Seas, High Profits! $14.99 165 86% 5.0k $74k (exactly $74,200) lexy.zip
Profit Sea Incremental $4.99 327 79% 9.8k $49k (exactly $48,952) Monkey Cube
Global Magnates: Shipping Tycoon $12.99 116 64% 3.5k $45k (exactly $45,205) Aquila Chengdu
HEXSTORM: Tears of Arcadia $8.99 56 75% 1.7k $15k (exactly $15,103) Tearevo
The Road To Harvest: Food From Across The Ocean $5.99 75 76% 2.3k $13k (exactly $13,478) MuccyGames
Storm Seas · EA $14.99 19 52% 570 $8.5k (exactly $8,544) Dclares Dev
Whistling Waters $9.99 18 83% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Luna Apps
Dockside Dreams – Fish & Cook Simulator $7.99 22 59% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) C51 Games
Port Trader $5.99 13 46% 390 $2.3k (exactly $2,336) Urban Isotope
Freight Manager · EA $11.99 5 60% 150 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) Drogos

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.