Games › Management › Management + Naval
Should I ship a Naval Management game?
Management + Naval
Of 21 developers who shipped a Naval Management 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, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.6k, ×7.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $790k, ×1266 the market median. Revenue is up 195% on the market; 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.6k (exactly $4,613) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,529) |
| Top 5% | $795k (exactly $795,335) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 82 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 195% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Naval
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Wargame
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 3,884 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
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- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
| 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 |
| | Transport Fever 2 | older | $39.99 | 26,714 89% | 801k | $32M (exactly $32,048,786) | Urban Games |
| | UBOAT | older | $29.99 | 25,568 83% | 767k | $23M (exactly $23,003,530) | Deep Water Studio |
| | 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 |
| | Port Royale 4 | older | $39.99 | 1,405 56% | 42k | $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) | Gaming Minds |
| | Rule the Waves 3 | older | $39.99 | 855 87% | 26k | $1.0M (exactly $1,025,744) | Naval Warfare Simulations |
| | Ship Graveyard Simulator | older | $14.99 | 2,107 64% | 63k | $948k (exactly $947,518) | Games Incubator |
| | Airship: Kingdoms Adrift | older | $29.99 | 902 75% | 27k | $812k (exactly $811,529) | Revolution Industry |
| | KAISERPUNK | $29.99 | 884 71% | 27k | $795k (exactly $795,335) | Overseer Games | |
| | Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles | · EA | $39.99 | 633 87% | 19k | $759k (exactly $759,410) | Drydock Dreams Games |
| | Corsairs - Battle of the Caribbean | $14.99 | 119 33% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $53,514) | Fishing Cactus | |
| | FULL METAL COFFIN | $4.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | Titanite, Mantle Array, Xenith | |
| | Wizard Warfare 2: Cephalopod Wars | $10.99 | 38 86% | 1.1k | $13k (exactly $12,529) | Psyanotek Limited | |
| | Hydra Heli | $4.99 | 83 91% | 2.5k | $12k (exactly $12,425) | Ideas Per Second | |
| | Fathom's End | · EA | $19.99 | 20 95% | 600 | $12k (exactly $11,994) | Lonely Anchor |
| | Storm Seas | · EA | $14.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) | Dclares Dev |
| | Hydra Heli 2 | $6.99 | 30 80% | 900 | $6.3k (exactly $6,291) | Ideas Per Second |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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