Do I ship it?

GamesTradingTrading + Naval

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Naval Trading game?

Trading + Naval

Only 12 developers shipped a Naval Trading 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, Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.4 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 $630; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×609 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 19 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 13.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 19 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading + Naval
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $18k → $84k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading + Naval: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $8.5k (exactly $8,544)
Top 25% $84k (exactly $83,958)
Top 5% $383k (exactly $382,609)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 38
Announced 19
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 down 70% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Trading
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Trading
Price point
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 1,505 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $8.5k, 1 in 4 over $83k, 1 in 20 over $380k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MiningFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  2. + Score AttackFair13 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  3. + MMORPGPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  4. + Character CustomizationPoor odds26 devs · median $60k · 137 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds23 devs · median $47k · 84 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds24 devs · median $47k · 82 announced
  7. + FlightPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  8. + SportsPoor odds11 devs · median $34k · 14 announced
  9. + CollectathonPoor odds28 devs · median $30k · 65 announced
  10. + PhysicsPoor odds23 devs · median $27k · 71 announced
  11. + DrivingPoor odds23 devs · median $24k · 48 announced
  12. + LootPoor odds23 devs · median $23k · 60 announced

All 109 pairs on the Trading page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Pirates! older $9.99 6,198 94% 186k $1.9M (exactly $1,857,541) Firaxis Games
Port Royale 4 older $39.99 1,405 56% 42k $1.7M (exactly $1,685,578) Gaming Minds
Windward older $9.99 2,668 79% 80k $800k (exactly $799,600) Tasharen Entertainment Inc.
Port Royale 3 older $14.99 1,204 72% 36k $541k (exactly $541,439) Gaming Minds Studios
TransOcean: The Shipping Company older $19.99 829 74% 25k $497k (exactly $497,151) Deck13 Hamburg
Caribbean Legend: Age of Pirates $19.99 638 70% 19k $383k (exactly $382,609) ReCon Team
Windward Horizon $19.99 401 79% 12k $240k (exactly $240,480) Tasharen Entertainment Inc.
Rise of Venice older $19.99 334 62% 10k $200k (exactly $200,300) Gaming Minds Studios
Patrician III older $4.99 893 81% 27k $134k (exactly $133,682) Ascaron Entertainment ltd.
Port Royale 2 older $5.99 661 71% 20k $119k (exactly $118,782) Ascaron Entertainment ltd.
Sail the Seas $19.99 140 76% 4.2k $84k (exactly $83,958) Viking Game Studio
Following Seas · EA $14.99 153 76% 4.6k $69k (exactly $68,804) Whipstaff Games
Terror of the Seven Seas $14.99 108 78% 3.2k $49k (exactly $48,568) Cutthroat Games
Storm Seas · EA $14.99 19 52% 570 $8.5k (exactly $8,544) Dclares Dev
Sea Town - Fish Market Simulator $3.99 27 48% 810 $3.2k (exactly $3,232) Alice Games
Port Trader $5.99 13 46% 390 $2.3k (exactly $2,336) Urban Isotope
Exploration $6.99 3 66% 90 $629 (exactly $629) Software 2000
Caribbean Frontier · EA $5.99 3 66% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Agon Games

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