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Should I ship a Sci-fi Naval Combat game?
Naval Combat + Sci-fi
Only 18 developers shipped a Sci-fi 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, Darkwater, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $780, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×472 the market median. Revenue is up 260% on the market; 29 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $446 (exactly $446) |
|---|---|
| Median | $776 (exactly $776) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 5% | $296k (exactly $296,403) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 260% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Naval Combat; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Combat, Exploration, Flight
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Minimalist
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 1,147 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Naval Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + World War IIFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ArcadeLong shot
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 | older | $19.99 | 9,701 74% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,817,690) | Tindalos Interactive |
| | Carrier Command: Gaea Mission | older | $32.99 | 805 51% | 24k | $797k (exactly $796,708) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
| | Ace of Seafood | older | $11.99 | 526 91% | 16k | $189k (exactly $189,202) | Calappa Games |
| | Submarine Titans | older | $4.99 | 348 86% | 10k | $52k (exactly $52,096) | Ellipse Studios |
| | Gemini Wars | older | $9.99 | 141 32% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $42,258) | Camel 101 |
| | Catharage | $9.99 | 62 82% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $18,581) | Björn Michalski | |
| | Stellar Sovereigns | older | $24.99 | 20 55% | 600 | $15k (exactly $14,994) | Imagined Reality |
| | INSANIO | $9.99 | 48 66% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,386) | somebody | |
| | Astra Protocol 2 | older | $6.99 | 35 82% | 1.1k | $7.3k (exactly $7,340) | Slice Bar Games |
| | A-Spec First Assault | $14.99 | 9 55% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | Digitum Software | |
| | Star Ash Fleet | $9.99 | 8 50% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | Redonleft | |
| | Fuel Cell | · EA | $9.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | Efshapo |
| | Ore Bastards | · EA | $8.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | INDIELLIGENT |
| | Infinite Empire | · EA | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Better Tools LLC |
| | Idle Space Shooter | $1.99 | 13 30% | 390 | $776 (exactly $776) | Phantom Prophecy Games | |
| | Mk50TWL Vehicle Battler Custom Slider | · EA | $4.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | TimberWoodLumber Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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