Do I ship it?

Games › Naval Combat › Naval Combat + Roguelite

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelite Naval Combat game?

Naval Combat + Roguelite

Of 25 developers who shipped a Roguelite 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×125 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 135% on the market, 40 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Naval Combat + Roguelite
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $269 → $3.0k → $3.1k → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Naval Combat + Roguelite: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 25% $24k (exactly $23,581)
Top 5% $78k (exactly $78,213)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 36
Announced 40
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 135% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Roguelite
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, Roguelite; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
3 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 $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,397 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $3.0k, 1 in 4 over $23k, 1 in 20 over $78k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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 DAVY x JONES 2025 · EA · $210k 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
DAVY x JONES · EA $17.99 389 82% 12k $210k (exactly $209,943) PARASIGHT
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
BattleCap $11.99 159 96% 4.8k $57k (exactly $57,192) MechAlmond Productions
Curse of Pirates $9.99 121 80% 3.6k $36k (exactly $36,264) Funky Parrot
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
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

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