Games › Submarine › Submarine + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Submarine game?
Submarine + Horror
Only 18 developers shipped a Horror Submarine game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Darkwater, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×4.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×472 the market median. Revenue is up 1500% on the market; 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $959 (exactly $959) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $11,745) |
| Top 5% | $296k (exactly $296,403) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 1500% on the market, supply as many developers as 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Submarine; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,363 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Submarine with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NatureFair
- + StrategyFair
- + Naval CombatPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Barotrauma 2023 · $65M 
Iron Lung 2022 · $2.4M 
Under The Waves 2023 · $1.5M 
STASIS: BONE TOTEM 2023 · $1.2M 
Darkwater 2026 · $296k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Barotrauma | older | $34.99 | 61,905 94% | 1.9M | $65M (exactly $64,981,678) | FakeFish, Undertow Games |
| | Iron Lung | older | $7.99 | 10,168 92% | 305k | $2.4M (exactly $2,437,270) | David Szymanski |
| | Under The Waves | older | $29.99 | 1,683 77% | 50k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,195) | Parallel Studio |
| | STASIS: BONE TOTEM | older | $19.99 | 2,025 93% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) | THE BROTHERHOOD |
| | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | KURSK | older | $19.99 | 445 47% | 13k | $267k (exactly $266,866) | Jujubee S.A. |
 | Static Dread: The Submarine | $11.99 | 307 81% | 9.2k | $110k (exactly $110,428) | solarsuit.games | |
 | Subterror | $7.99 | 397 90% | 12k | $95k (exactly $95,161) | Team Monumental | |
 | Sonar Shock | older | $7.99 | 224 80% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | Raphael Bossniak |
 | The Sirena Expedition | older | $5.99 | 135 82% | 4.1k | $24k (exactly $24,260) | Giraffe Cat |
 | There's Nothing Down There | $2.00 | 394 84% | 12k | $24k (exactly $23,640) | Tim Trankle | |
 | CRUSH DEPTH | $7.99 | 49 97% | 1.5k | $12k (exactly $11,745) | Earth Giant | |
 | The Oily Depths | $2.99 | 107 84% | 3.2k | $9.6k (exactly $9,598) | Ryan R. Burns | |
 | The Abyss Below | $4.99 | 58 81% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,683) | Broken Relay | |
 | Sonar Scout | $5.99 | 26 100% | 780 | $4.7k (exactly $4,672) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose, Neil Do… (Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose, Neil Doppelmayr, Christoph Englert, Pontus Liljekvist, Hugo Roque) | |
 | Submeris | $4.99 | 19 57% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | OxygenStudio | |
 | Dark of the Depths | $4.99 | 17 70% | 510 | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) | GhastlyVastly |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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