Games › PvP › PvP + Naval Combat
Should I ship a PvP Naval Combat game?
PvP + Naval Combat
Only 18 developers shipped a paid PvP Naval Combat 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, Broken Arrow, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 55 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $38M, ×25953 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 55 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) |
| Top 25% | $57k (exactly $57,192) |
| Top 5% | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 74 |
| Announced | 55 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 41%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- PvP
- effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
- Naval Combat
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- PvP, Naval Combat; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Action RTS
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 65% positive over 47,161 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvP with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BaseballFair
- + TransportationFair
- + BasketballFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BikesFair
- + GolfFair
- + World War IFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + TennisLong shot
- + TypingLong shot
- + SpellingLong shot
Comparable games
Broken Arrow 2025 · $39M 
ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M 
Besiege 2020 · $22M 
Soulmask 2026 · $17M 
Naval Action 2019 · $6.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Broken Arrow | $49.99 | 25,924 55% | 778k | $39M (exactly $38,878,223) | Steel Balalaika | |
| | ATLAS | · EA older | $29.99 | 37,119 46% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $33,395,964) | Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games |
| | Besiege | older | $14.99 | 48,045 95% | 1.4M | $22M (exactly $21,605,836) | Spiderling Studios |
| | Soulmask | $29.99 | 18,445 76% | 553k | $17M (exactly $16,594,966) | CampFire Studio | |
| | Naval Action | older | $19.99 | 10,187 52% | 306k | $6.1M (exactly $6,109,144) | Bermuda Computer Club |
 | Airships: Conquer the Skies | older | $24.99 | 6,197 95% | 186k | $4.6M (exactly $4,645,891) | David Stark |
 | Skull and Bones | older | $29.99 | 4,650 65% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) | Ubisoft Singapore |
 | Blazing Sails | older | $14.99 | 8,361 87% | 251k | $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) | Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive |
 | Frozenheim | older | $19.99 | 3,463 70% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,076,761) | Paranoid Interactive |
 | Forefront | $27.99 | 1,913 84% | 57k | $1.6M (exactly $1,606,346) | Triangle Factory | |
 | Rise of Piracy | · EA | $15.99 | 520 77% | 16k | $249k (exactly $249,444) | IrishJohnGames |
 | BattleCap | $11.99 | 159 96% | 4.8k | $57k (exactly $57,192) | MechAlmond Productions | |
 | Corsairs - Battle of the Caribbean | $14.99 | 119 33% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $53,514) | Fishing Cactus | |
 | The Pirate: Republic of Nassau | $19.99 | 25 68% | 750 | $15k (exactly $14,992) | Home Net Games | |
 | Rum N' Gold Royale | $4.99 | 34 97% | 1.0k | $5.1k (exactly $5,090) | PrimalDev Games | |
 | Ship of the line | · EA | $7.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) | YDS |
 | Fleet Hunters | $4.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | Gnarly Labs SRL |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.