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Should I ship a Sailing Simulation game?
Sailing + Simulation
Of 63 developers who shipped a Sailing Simulation 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.. 138 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.6k, ×8.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2432 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 138 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,256) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.6k (exactly $5,571) |
| Top 25% | $74k (exactly $73,588) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 174 |
| Announced | 138 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 70% on the market, supply 35% 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.
- Sailing
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Sailing, Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Open World
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Realistic, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 28,200 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.3k. 6 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 138 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sailing with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + Immersive SimPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Resource ManagementPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
Comparable games
DREDGE 2023 · $36M 
The Last Caretaker 2025 · EA · $14M 
Naval Action 2019 · $6.1M 
Sailing Era 2023 · $3.4M 
Cat Goes Fishing 2015 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DREDGE | older | $24.99 | 47,624 95% | 1.4M | $36M (exactly $35,703,713) | Black Salt Games |
| | The Last Caretaker | · EA | $34.99 | 13,178 86% | 395k | $14M (exactly $13,832,947) | Channel37 Ltd |
| | Naval Action | older | $19.99 | 10,187 52% | 306k | $6.1M (exactly $6,109,144) | Bermuda Computer Club |
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
| | Cat Goes Fishing | older | $6.99 | 15,431 94% | 463k | $3.2M (exactly $3,235,881) | Cat5Games |
 | Fishing: North Atlantic - Enhanced Edition | older | $34.99 | 2,535 76% | 76k | $2.7M (exactly $2,660,990) | Misc Games |
 | Pixel Piracy | older | $14.99 | 5,713 65% | 171k | $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) | Vitali Kirpu |
 | Aloft | · EA | $24.99 | 3,057 82% | 92k | $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) | Astrolabe Interactive Inc. |
 | Seafarer: The Ship Sim | · EA | $34.99 | 1,921 64% | 58k | $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) | astragon Development |
 | Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail | older | $29.99 | 2,007 78% | 60k | $1.8M (exactly $1,805,698) | Game-Labs |
 | Finnish Cottage Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 3,396 93% | 102k | $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181) | RANELA GAMES |
 | Spilled! | $5.99 | 4,905 93% | 147k | $881k (exactly $881,428) | Lente | |
 | WILL: Follow The Light | $24.99 | 527 73% | 16k | $395k (exactly $395,092) | TomorrowHead Studio | |
 | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Rise of Piracy | · EA | $15.99 | 520 77% | 16k | $249k (exactly $249,444) | IrishJohnGames |
 | Professional Ship Simulator | · EA | $36.99 | 81 62% | 2.4k | $90k (exactly $89,886) | SWE Systems |
 | Sail the Seas | $19.99 | 140 76% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | Viking Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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