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Should I ship a Sailing Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Sailing
Only 16 developers shipped a Sailing Immersive Sim 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, The Last Caretaker, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 42 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $69k, ×46 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $13M, ×9234 the market median. Revenue is up 3195% on the market; 42 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) |
|---|---|
| Median | $69k (exactly $68,804) |
| Top 25% | $401k (exactly $401,001) |
| Top 5% | $14M (exactly $13,832,947) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 3195% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Sailing
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Sailing; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Open World, Simulation
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 20,678 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.3k. 6 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M 
The Last Caretaker 2025 · EA · $14M 
Seafarer: The Ship Sim 2025 · EA · $2.0M 
Ships At Sea 2024 · EA · $1.9M 
Finnish Cottage Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stormworks: Build and Rescue | older | $24.99 | 54,649 90% | 1.6M | $41M (exactly $40,970,355) | Geometa |
| | The Last Caretaker | · EA | $34.99 | 13,178 86% | 395k | $14M (exactly $13,832,947) | Channel37 Ltd |
| | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
| | Ships At Sea | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,479 69% | 74k | $1.9M (exactly $1,858,506) | Misc Games |
| | Finnish Cottage Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 3,396 93% | 102k | $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181) | RANELA GAMES |
 | Sailwind | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,312 89% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,386,506) | Raw Lion Workshop |
 | UMIGARI | ウミガリ | $12.99 | 1,029 82% | 31k | $401k (exactly $401,001) | Chilla's Art | |
 | WILL: Follow The Light | $24.99 | 527 73% | 16k | $395k (exactly $395,092) | TomorrowHead Studio | |
 | Escape The Pacific | · EA older | $14.99 | 719 66% | 22k | $323k (exactly $323,334) | Gamers4Gamers Team |
 | Dangerous Waters | older | $14.99 | 353 79% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | Sonalysts |
 | Ship Explorer | $19.99 | 134 84% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Turbine Room Studio | |
 | VR Sailing | $7.99 | 307 96% | 9.2k | $74k (exactly $73,588) | HFRK. | |
 | Following Seas | · EA | $14.99 | 153 76% | 4.6k | $69k (exactly $68,804) | Whipstaff Games |
 | Fisherman Simulator | $6.99 | 28 78% | 840 | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) | RFT | |
 | Paragliding Simulator | · EA | $24.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Evan Burrows |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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