Games › Tactical › Tactical + Pirates
Should I ship a Pirate Tactical game?
Tactical + Pirates
Of 23 developers who shipped a Pirate Tactical 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.. 45 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $700; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×585 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 45 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $700 (exactly $700) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,776) |
| Top 5% | $367k (exactly $367,405) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 69 |
| Announced | 45 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Combat, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 2,690 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $700. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Marauders 2022 · EA · $12M 
Abandon Ship 2019 · $863k 
Rogue Waters 2024 · $859k 
Airship: Kingdoms Adrift 2023 · $812k 
Down with the Ship 2026 · EA · $367k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
| | Abandon Ship | older | $24.99 | 1,151 71% | 35k | $863k (exactly $862,905) | Fireblade Software |
| | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
| | Airship: Kingdoms Adrift | older | $29.99 | 902 75% | 27k | $812k (exactly $811,529) | Revolution Industry |
| | Down with the Ship | · EA | $14.99 | 817 93% | 25k | $367k (exactly $367,405) | Iron Anchor Games |
 | Republic of Pirates | older | $24.99 | 420 70% | 13k | $315k (exactly $314,874) | Crazy Goat Games |
 | Dead Weight | $12.99 | 575 82% | 17k | $224k (exactly $224,078) | Klukva Games | |
 | Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity® | older | $9.99 | 687 78% | 21k | $206k (exactly $205,894) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
 | Out of Reach: Treasure Royale | older | $14.99 | 337 58% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,549) | Space Boat Studios |
 | Fort Defense | older | $14.99 | 232 78% | 7.0k | $104k (exactly $104,330) | Creobit |
 | Flint: Treasure of Oblivion | $24.99 | 92 51% | 2.8k | $69k (exactly $68,972) | Savage Level | |
 | Void Marauders | $13.99 | 106 77% | 3.2k | $44k (exactly $44,488) | Autarca | |
 | Pirate Hunter | $6.99 | 80 87% | 2.4k | $17k (exactly $16,776) | DIOsoft | |
 | Sunken Stones | $11.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | Spritewrench | |
 | Warlordocracy | $4.99 | 27 96% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Brian J. Lancaster, Laughing Coyote Sof… (Brian J. Lancaster, Laughing Coyote Software) | |
 | Pirate Patrol | $4.99 | 19 42% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | INDIELLIGENT | |
 | Trade Empire | · EA | $9.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Valengate |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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