Games › Exploration › Exploration + Naval
Should I ship a Naval Exploration game?
Exploration + Naval
Of 53 developers who shipped a Naval Exploration game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 118 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4130 the market median. Revenue is up 145% on the market; 118 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,998) |
| Top 25% | $84k (exactly $83,958) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 125 |
| Announced | 118 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 145% on the market, supply 30% 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.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Naval
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Open World, Sailing, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $36.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $36.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 43,291 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2022 · $74M 
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced 2026 · $48M 
Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M 
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii 2025 · $12M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | Assassin's Creed Valhalla | older | $59.99 | 41,083 70% | 1.2M | $74M (exactly $73,937,075) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| | Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | $59.99 | 26,652 81% | 800k | $48M (exactly $47,965,604) | Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, U… (Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft India, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Romania) | |
| | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
| | Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | $59.99 | 6,584 88% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,849,225) | RGG Studio | |
 | SUNLESS SEA | older | $18.99 | 7,625 83% | 229k | $4.3M (exactly $4,343,962) | Failbetter Games |
 | Skull and Bones | older | $29.99 | 4,650 65% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) | Ubisoft Singapore |
 | Caribbean Legend | older | $39.99 | 2,860 74% | 86k | $3.4M (exactly $3,431,142) | BlackMark Studio |
 | Fishing: North Atlantic - Enhanced Edition | older | $34.99 | 2,535 76% | 76k | $2.7M (exactly $2,660,990) | Misc Games |
 | Age of Water | $29.99 | 2,883 72% | 86k | $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) | Three Whales Studio | |
 | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
 | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
 | Tides of Tomorrow 🌊 | $29.99 | 521 86% | 16k | $469k (exactly $468,744) | Digixart | |
 | Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates | $19.99 | 638 70% | 19k | $383k (exactly $382,609) | ReCon Team | |
 | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | Rise of Piracy | · EA | $15.99 | 520 77% | 16k | $249k (exactly $249,444) | IrishJohnGames |
 | Windward Horizon | $19.99 | 401 79% | 12k | $240k (exactly $240,480) | Tasharen Entertainment Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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