Games › Fishing › Fishing + Life Sim
Should I ship a Fishing Life Sim?
Fishing + Life Sim
Of 95 developers who shipped a Fishing Life Sim 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.. 202 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.0k, ×17 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×3070 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 202 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.0k (exactly $7,974) |
| Top 25% | $87k (exactly $87,370) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,458,377) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 95 |
| Released games | 186 |
| Announced | 202 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 10% on the market, supply 20% 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Fishing, Life Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Farming Sim, Sandbox
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 42,825 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 6 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 202 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Fishing with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stardew Valley | older | $14.99 | 894,201 98% | 27M | $402M (exactly $402,122,190) | ConcernedApe |
| | Disney Dreamlight Valley | older | $39.99 | 22,027 92% | 661k | $26M (exactly $26,425,792) | Gameloft |
| | Coral Island | older | $29.99 | 21,828 89% | 655k | $20M (exactly $19,638,652) | Stairway Games |
| | Sun Haven | older | $24.99 | 22,069 79% | 662k | $17M (exactly $16,545,129) | Pixel Sprout Studios |
| | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
| | Ultimate Fishing Simulator® | older | $19.99 | 8,256 89% | 248k | $5.0M (exactly $4,951,123) | Ultimate Games S.A., Bit Golem |
| | Farm Together 2 | $25.99 | 4,456 93% | 134k | $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) | Milkstone Studios | |
| | Littlewood | older | $14.99 | 6,083 93% | 182k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,525) | Sean Young |
| | Potion Permit | older | $19.99 | 4,358 78% | 131k | $2.6M (exactly $2,613,493) | MassHive Media |
| | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
| | Go-Go Town! | $27.99 | 2,476 93% | 74k | $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) | Prideful Sloth | |
| | Mirthwood | $24.99 | 2,242 69% | 67k | $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) | Bad Ridge Games | |
| | Grimshire | · EA | $14.99 | 3,243 97% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,458,377) | Acute Owl Studio |
| | Farmer's Dynasty 2 | · EA | $24.99 | 1,225 72% | 37k | $918k (exactly $918,382) | UMEO Studios |
| | Farlands | $17.99 | 1,628 89% | 49k | $879k (exactly $878,632) | JanduSoft, Eric Rodríguez | |
| | Snacko | $24.99 | 888 95% | 27k | $666k (exactly $665,734) | Bluecurse Studios | |
| | On-Together: Virtual Co-Working | $9.99 | 1,314 93% | 39k | $394k (exactly $393,806) | GigaPuff | |
| | Caravanners | · EA | $17.99 | 712 35% | 21k | $384k (exactly $384,266) | Akif Akdemir |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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