Games › Sailing › Sailing + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Sailing game?
Sailing + Fantasy
Of 25 developers who shipped a Fantasy Sailing 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.1k, ×9.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×2551 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) |
| Top 25% | $52k (exactly $51,782) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 51 |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Sailing; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 9,744 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sailing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Resource ManagementPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
Comparable games
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii 2025 · $12M 
Ys X: Nordics 2024 · $1.6M 
Rogue Waters 2024 · $859k 
Sail Forth 2022 · $362k 
Forgotten Seas 2025 · $356k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | $59.99 | 6,584 88% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,849,225) | RGG Studio | |
| | Ys X: Nordics | $59.99 | 890 76% | 27k | $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
| | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
| | Sail Forth | older | $19.99 | 604 92% | 18k | $362k (exactly $362,219) | Festive Vector |
| | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Ys X: Proud Nordics | $69.99 | 168 75% | 5.0k | $353k (exactly $352,750) | Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH | |
 | Sea of Survivors | · EA older | $6.99 | 415 81% | 12k | $87k (exactly $87,026) | Nah Yeah Games |
 | Islands of the Caliph | older | $9.99 | 272 88% | 8.2k | $82k (exactly $81,518) | Schmidt Workshops |
 | Ile d'Or | · EA | $14.99 | 164 88% | 4.9k | $74k (exactly $73,751) | あとらそふと |
 | Drakkar Crew | older | $14.99 | 155 80% | 4.7k | $70k (exactly $69,704) | SiBear Games |
 | Following Seas | · EA | $14.99 | 153 76% | 4.6k | $69k (exactly $68,804) | Whipstaff Games |
 | ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles | · EA | $8.99 | 192 96% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $51,782) | Tomas Sala |
 | Pirates Outlaws 2: Heritage | · EA | $14.99 | 105 60% | 3.2k | $47k (exactly $47,218) | Fabled Game |
 | Dreadful River | $9.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | SureAI |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.