Do I ship it?

GamesSurvivalSurvival + Naval

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Naval Survival game?

Survival + Naval

Only 14 developers shipped a Naval Survival 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, Salt 2: Shores of Gold, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $8.5k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2084 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 13.6 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 30 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Naval
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $41k → $15k → $12k (still earning) → $4.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Naval: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $838 (exactly $838)
Median $8.5k (exactly $8,544)
Top 25% $156k (exactly $156,496)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 50
Announced 30
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 flat on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Naval
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival
Price point
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 4,200 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $8.5k, 1 in 4 over $150k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
UBOAT older $29.99 25,568 83% 767k $23M (exactly $23,003,530) Deep Water Studio
From the Depths older $24.99 11,059 89% 332k $8.3M (exactly $8,290,932) Brilliant Skies Ltd.
SUNLESS SEA older $18.99 7,625 83% 229k $4.3M (exactly $4,343,962) Failbetter Games
Blazing Sails older $14.99 8,361 87% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada (Classic) older $14.99 5,135 68% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,309,210) Tindalos Interactive
Salt 2: Shores of Gold $19.99 2,182 85% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Lavaboots Studios
Salt older $14.99 1,959 75% 59k $881k (exactly $880,962) Lavaboots Studios
Abandon Ship older $24.99 1,151 71% 35k $863k (exactly $862,905) Fireblade Software
Tides of Tomorrow 🌊 $29.99 521 86% 16k $469k (exactly $468,744) Digixart
Darkwater $9.99 989 77% 30k $296k (exactly $296,403) Targon Studios
Captain Bones : A Pirate's Journey $14.99 348 79% 10k $156k (exactly $156,496) World of Poly
Mystical Maritime Adventure $8.99 54 77% 1.6k $15k (exactly $14,564) Ze_Yu, 烟熏渔
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
FuJianStrike $6.99 22 100% 660 $4.6k (exactly $4,613) Mithril_055
Ocean Survivors $3.49 38 97% 1.1k $4.0k (exactly $3,979) Aremji Games
War and Politics · EA $3.99 7 42% 210 $838 (exactly $838) JIYUTORISEI

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