Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Roguelike?
Roguelike + Underwater
Of 27 developers who shipped an Underwater Roguelike 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.. 34 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×930 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 34 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $419 (exactly $419) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,317) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,072) |
| Top 5% | $584k (exactly $584,108) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 34 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 down 95% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Underwater
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action Roguelike, Action
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 6,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
Abyssus 2025 · $3.8M 
We Need To Go Deeper 2019 · $2.2M 
Primordialis 2025 · EA · $584k 
Octogeddon 2018 · $346k 
Stirring Abyss 2020 · $250k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
| | We Need To Go Deeper | older | $15.99 | 4,652 86% | 140k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) | Deli Interactive LLC |
| | Primordialis | · EA | $19.99 | 974 93% | 29k | $584k (exactly $584,108) | Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut |
| | Octogeddon | older | $8.88 | 1,298 92% | 39k | $346k (exactly $345,787) | All Yes Good |
| | Stirring Abyss | older | $24.99 | 334 88% | 10k | $250k (exactly $250,400) | Sleepy Sentry, K-Project |
 | Crab God | older | $19.99 | 268 82% | 8.0k | $161k (exactly $160,720) | Chaos Theory Games |
 | Feed the Deep | older | $6.99 | 460 88% | 14k | $96k (exactly $96,462) | Luke Muscat |
 | Port of Jumanah | $11.99 | 145 100% | 4.4k | $52k (exactly $52,156) | Red Dunes Games, Agate | |
 | Evolve Lab | · EA | $14.99 | 69 94% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,029) | SiRen Games |
 | Deep Blue: Devour and Evolve | $8.99 | 100 83% | 3.0k | $27k (exactly $26,970) | ZHOUZEMING | |
 | Dive The Depths | $9.99 | 87 72% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,074) | Frizuo, Starpixel Studios | |
 | Sea Of Radiation 2 | $5.99 | 95 72% | 2.9k | $17k (exactly $17,072) | NightWalker | |
 | A Tale of Silent Depths | $9.99 | 21 80% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | Crit42 Studio | |
 | Fishing Mega-Game | $4.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) | Peep | |
 | 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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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