Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Underwater

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underwater Management game?

Management + Underwater

Of 37 developers who shipped an Underwater 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.. 54 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×8.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 54 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 54 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Underwater
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $589k → $8.7k → $161k → $5.2k → $5.0k → $17k (still earning) → $598 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Underwater: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $5.0k (exactly $5,033)
Top 25% $77k (exactly $77,219)
Top 5% $761k (exactly $760,834)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 66
Announced 54
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 90% on the market, supply 210% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Underwater
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Resource Management, Colony Sim
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Relaxing, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 22,696 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $5.0k, 1 in 4 over $77k, 1 in 20 over $760k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  9. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  10. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  11. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced
  12. + IdlerFair669 devs · median $1.9k · 877 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DAVE THE DIVER 2023 · $86M Barotrauma 2023 · $65M The Last Caretaker 2025 · EA · $14M Megaquarium 2018 · $2.6M Insaniquarium Deluxe 2006 · $958k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DAVE THE DIVER older $19.99 142,662 96% 4.3M $86M (exactly $85,554,401) MINTROCKET
Barotrauma older $34.99 61,905 94% 1.9M $65M (exactly $64,981,678) FakeFish, Undertow Games
The Last Caretaker · EA $34.99 13,178 86% 395k $14M (exactly $13,832,947) Channel37 Ltd
Megaquarium older $24.99 3,444 95% 103k $2.6M (exactly $2,581,967) Twice Circled
Insaniquarium Deluxe older $4.99 6,398 96% 192k $958k (exactly $957,781) PopCap Games, Inc.
Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping $7.49 3,386 95% 102k $761k (exactly $760,834) Lunheim Studios
DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain $17.99 1,255 91% 38k $677k (exactly $677,323) Drop Rate Studio
Surviving the Abyss $19.99 1,044 64% 31k $626k (exactly $626,087) Rocket Flair Studios
Aquatico older $24.99 786 67% 24k $589k (exactly $589,264) Digital Reef Games
Scale the Depths $9.99 1,881 88% 56k $564k (exactly $563,736) Glass Gecko Games
Ecosystem $19.99 601 76% 18k $360k (exactly $360,420) Tom Johnson
Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas $5.99 886 85% 27k $159k (exactly $159,214) Happy Universe Studios
Life Below $29.99 150 80% 4.5k $135k (exactly $134,955) Megapop
Deep Blue Sushi · EA $14.99 212 75% 6.4k $95k (exactly $95,336) PaperPixel Games
Oceaneers · EA $24.99 103 86% 3.1k $77k (exactly $77,219) Barrel Smash Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.