Do I ship it?

Games › Naval Combat › Naval Combat + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Naval Combat game?

Naval Combat + Roguelike

Of 20 developers who shipped a Roguelike Naval Combat 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.9k, ×6.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×125 the market median. Revenue is up 2555% on the market; 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 2555% on the market, 37 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Naval Combat + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $150 → $3.9k (still earning) → $4.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Naval Combat + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $3.9k (exactly $3,897)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,581)
Top 5% $78k (exactly $78,213)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 39
Announced 37
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 2555% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Naval Combat
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
Naval Combat, Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Adventure, Action
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 907 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $3.9k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $78k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Naval Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + World War IIFair12 devs · median $2.7k · 11 announced
  2. + MilitaryFair37 devs · median $2.2k · 48 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair14 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced
  4. + ArcadeLong shot21 devs · median $300 · 25 announced
  5. + Open WorldPoor odds26 devs · median $38k · 80 announced
  6. + CraftingPoor odds11 devs · median $38k · 21 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds15 devs · median $29k · 57 announced
  8. + BuildingPoor odds6 devs · median $29k · 28 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $29k · 30 announced
  10. + RTSPoor odds20 devs · median $19k · 32 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds14 devs · median $17k · 25 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds8 devs · median $17k · 28 announced

All 54 pairs on the Naval Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Pixel Piracy 2014 · $2.6M Abandon Ship 2019 · $863k The Caribbean Sail 2017 · $226k Sea of Survivors 2023 · EA · $87k Airships: Lost Flotilla 2025 · $78k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pixel Piracy older $14.99 5,713 65% 171k $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) Vitali Kirpu
Abandon Ship older $24.99 1,151 71% 35k $863k (exactly $862,905) Fireblade Software
The Caribbean Sail older $14.99 503 93% 15k $226k (exactly $226,199) Victorian Clambake
Sea of Survivors · EA older $6.99 415 81% 12k $87k (exactly $87,026) Nah Yeah Games
Airships: Lost Flotilla $8.99 290 92% 8.7k $78k (exactly $78,213) David Stark
Curse of Pirates $9.99 121 80% 3.6k $36k (exactly $36,264) Funky Parrot
Her Majesty's Ship older $9.99 96 44% 2.9k $29k (exactly $28,771) Every Single Soldier, Wastelands Intera… (Every Single Soldier, Wastelands Interactive)
Red Rogue Sea $16.99 53 64% 1.6k $27k (exactly $27,014) Firemage Studios
Dread Admiral $13.99 59 89% 1.8k $25k (exactly $24,762) Tescrin Games
Beach Defense: Zombie Invasion $3.99 197 81% 5.9k $24k (exactly $23,581) Only Fun Games
Catharage $9.99 62 82% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) Björn Michalski
INSANIO $9.99 48 66% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) somebody
Fluffy Sailors $12.99 29 79% 870 $11k (exactly $11,301) Skaldery Games
Ocean Survivors $3.49 38 97% 1.1k $4.0k (exactly $3,979) Aremji Games
Pirates: Rogue's Fortune · EA $12.99 10 100% 300 $3.9k (exactly $3,897) NINPO Game Studio

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