Games › Fishing › Fishing + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Fishing game?
Fishing + Horror
Of 23 developers who shipped a Horror Fishing 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.. 47 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.4k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $400k, ×844 the market median. Revenue is up 820% on the market; 47 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) |
| Top 25% | $70k (exactly $70,472) |
| Top 5% | $401k (exactly $401,001) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 47 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 820% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Fishing; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 7,598 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Fishing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingFair
- + AutomationFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + EconomyPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + AgriculturePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
DREDGE 2023 · $36M 
Fears to Fathom - Woodbury Getaway 2024 · $1.0M 
GONE Fishing 2025 · EA · $904k 
UMIGARI | ウミガリ 2026 · $401k 
Lakeview Valley 2019 · $319k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DREDGE | older | $24.99 | 47,624 95% | 1.4M | $36M (exactly $35,703,713) | Black Salt Games |
| | Fears to Fathom - Woodbury Getaway | older | $9.99 | 3,470 86% | 104k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,959) | Rayll Studios |
| | GONE Fishing | · EA | $9.99 | 3,016 90% | 90k | $904k (exactly $903,895) | GONE Studios |
| | UMIGARI | ウミガリ | $12.99 | 1,029 82% | 31k | $401k (exactly $401,001) | Chilla's Art | |
| | Lakeview Valley | older | $14.99 | 710 82% | 21k | $319k (exactly $319,287) | Roope Tamminen |
 | Voodoo Fishin' | · EA | $9.99 | 800 81% | 24k | $240k (exactly $239,760) | Lost Arcade |
 | myPOPGOES | older | $4.99 | 752 86% | 23k | $113k (exactly $112,574) | Kane Carter |
 | Fishing The Abyss | $6.99 | 421 95% | 13k | $88k (exactly $88,284) | umaaaaaa studio | |
 | Loan Shark | $3.99 | 635 84% | 19k | $76k (exactly $76,010) | Studio Ortica | |
 | Water You Doing? | $7.99 | 294 59% | 8.8k | $70k (exactly $70,472) | DiSolve Studios | |
 | Knights End | $7.99 | 286 90% | 8.6k | $69k (exactly $68,554) | Knight Shift Studios | |
 | Don't Sleep With The Fishes | $1.99 | 782 95% | 23k | $47k (exactly $46,685) | Taiki | |
 | Crabmeat | $7.99 | 181 86% | 5.4k | $43k (exactly $43,386) | Nicholas McDonnell, Mitchell Pasmans | |
 | Dreadline: Net Quota | $5.99 | 154 68% | 4.6k | $28k (exactly $27,674) | Mana Brigade |
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.