Should I ship a PvE Sailing game?
PvE + Sailing
Only 17 developers shipped a PvE Sailing 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, Windrose, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 59 more are announced, ×6.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $43M, ×68614 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,992) |
| Top 5% | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 250% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 29%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- PvE, Sailing; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 52,717 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + IdlerFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + TypingFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + HeistPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + SpaceshipsPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
Comparable games
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
Windrose 2026 · EA · $43M 
ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M 
Skull and Bones 2024 · $4.2M 
Voyagers of Nera 2025 · EA · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | Windrose | · EA | $29.99 | 47,893 86% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) | Kraken Express |
| | ATLAS | · EA older | $29.99 | 37,119 46% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $33,395,964) | Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games |
| | Skull and Bones | older | $29.99 | 4,650 65% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) | Ubisoft Singapore |
| | Voyagers of Nera | · EA | $29.99 | 2,022 83% | 61k | $1.8M (exactly $1,819,193) | Treehouse Games |
 | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
 | King of Seas | older | $24.99 | 603 57% | 18k | $452k (exactly $452,069) | 3DClouds |
 | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Lighthouse Keeper | older | $11.99 | 336 81% | 10k | $121k (exactly $120,859) | Stratera Games |
 | Sail | · EA older | $14.99 | 128 72% | 3.8k | $58k (exactly $57,562) | Red Team Interactive Inc., Continuum XR |
 | The Pirate: Republic of Nassau | $19.99 | 25 68% | 750 | $15k (exactly $14,992) | Home Net Games | |
 | The Isle of Cats | $14.99 | 31 83% | 930 | $14k (exactly $13,941) | Dire Wolf | |
 | Fluffy Sailors | $12.99 | 29 79% | 870 | $11k (exactly $11,301) | Skaldery Games | |
 | Land Drifters | · EA | $5.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | Space Breeze, LLC |
 | Lord O' Pirates | $4.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | One Flow Man | |
 | Pixel Pirates | · EA | $14.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) | Flickin Fun |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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