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Should I ship a Historical Sailing game?
Sailing + Historical
Of 26 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 43 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 $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×609 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 43 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) |
| Top 25% | $49k (exactly $48,568) |
| Top 5% | $383k (exactly $382,609) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 81 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sailing
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Sailing; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 28,145 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced 2026 · $48M 
Naval Action 2019 · $6.1M 
Caribbean Legend 2024 · $3.4M 
Sailing Era 2023 · $3.4M 
Sid Meier's Pirates! 2005 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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) | |
| | Naval Action | older | $19.99 | 10,187 52% | 306k | $6.1M (exactly $6,109,144) | Bermuda Computer Club |
| | Caribbean Legend | older | $39.99 | 2,860 74% | 86k | $3.4M (exactly $3,431,142) | BlackMark Studio |
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
| | Sid Meier's Pirates! | older | $9.99 | 6,198 94% | 186k | $1.9M (exactly $1,857,541) | Firaxis Games |
 | Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail | older | $29.99 | 2,007 78% | 60k | $1.8M (exactly $1,805,698) | Game-Labs |
 | Port Royale 4 | older | $39.99 | 1,405 56% | 42k | $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) | Gaming Minds |
 | Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry | older | $14.99 | 2,891 77% | 87k | $1.3M (exactly $1,300,083) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Sea Dogs: To Each His Own | older | $14.99 | 1,927 72% | 58k | $867k (exactly $866,572) | BlackMark Studio |
 | Tempest: Pirate Action RPG | older | $14.99 | 1,778 69% | 53k | $800k (exactly $799,567) | HeroCraft |
 | Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates | $19.99 | 638 70% | 19k | $383k (exactly $382,609) | ReCon Team | |
 | Sail the Seas | $19.99 | 140 76% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | Viking Game Studio | |
 | Ship Explorer | $19.99 | 134 84% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Turbine Room Studio | |
 | Ile d'Or | · EA | $14.99 | 164 88% | 4.9k | $74k (exactly $73,751) | あとらそふと |
 | ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles | · EA | $8.99 | 192 96% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $51,782) | Tomas Sala |
 | Terror of the Seven Seas | $14.99 | 108 78% | 3.2k | $49k (exactly $48,568) | Cutthroat Games | |
 | Herald: The Interactive Period Drama – Complete Edition | $19.99 | 23 78% | 690 | $14k (exactly $13,793) | Wispfire | |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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