Games › Simulation › Simulation + Submarine
Should I ship a Submarine Simulation game?
Simulation + Submarine
Of 38 developers who shipped a Submarine 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.. 49 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×679 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 49 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $958 (exactly $958) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,509) |
| Top 5% | $427k (exactly $426,529) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 116 |
| Announced | 49 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.20 |
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 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Submarine
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Submarine; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Wargame, Naval Combat
- Price point
- $6.20 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $6.20.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,453 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Barotrauma 2023 · $65M 
UBOAT 2024 · $23M 
Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age 2024 · EA · $9.2M 
Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts 2023 · $7.0M 
Cold Waters 2017 · $5.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Barotrauma | older | $34.99 | 61,905 94% | 1.9M | $65M (exactly $64,981,678) | FakeFish, Undertow Games |
| | UBOAT | older | $29.99 | 25,568 83% | 767k | $23M (exactly $23,003,530) | Deep Water Studio |
| | Sea Power : Naval Combat in the Missile Age | · EA | $49.99 | 6,109 90% | 183k | $9.2M (exactly $9,161,667) | Triassic Games |
| | Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts | older | $34.99 | 6,664 62% | 200k | $7.0M (exactly $6,995,201) | Game-Labs |
| | Cold Waters | older | $39.99 | 4,603 87% | 138k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,219) | Killerfish Games |
 | War on the Sea | older | $39.99 | 3,151 76% | 95k | $3.8M (exactly $3,780,255) | Killerfish Games |
 | We Need To Go Deeper | older | $15.99 | 4,652 86% | 140k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) | Deli Interactive LLC |
 | Wolfpack | · EA older | $34.99 | 1,862 88% | 56k | $2.0M (exactly $1,954,541) | Usurpator AB |
 | NavalArt | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,362 90% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,416,491) | Rigidbody |
 | The Fisherman - Fishing Planet | older | $29.99 | 975 62% | 29k | $877k (exactly $877,208) | Fishing Planet LLC |
 | Modern Naval Warfare | · EA | $59.99 | 237 58% | 7.1k | $427k (exactly $426,529) | Wave Ops |
 | Behind Glass: Aquarium Simulator | $14.99 | 390 95% | 12k | $175k (exactly $175,383) | BitBros Inc | |
 | Fantasy Aquarium | $6.99 | 833 79% | 25k | $175k (exactly $174,680) | MOON SCAPE | |
 | Victory at Sea Atlantic - World War II Naval Warfare | $39.99 | 92 60% | 2.8k | $110k (exactly $110,372) | Evil Twin Artworks | |
 | Silent Shark | $17.99 | 125 98% | 3.8k | $67k (exactly $67,462) | John Goering | |
 | 大戦略SSB2 | $59.99 | 36 66% | 1.1k | $65k (exactly $64,789) | Systemsoft beta, Inc. | |
 | ShipShaper: Falconeer Chronicles | · EA | $8.99 | 192 96% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $51,782) | Tomas Sala |
 | Zen Aquarium | $4.99 | 302 93% | 9.1k | $45k (exactly $45,209) | Astro Cat | |
 | FULL METAL COFFIN | $4.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | Titanite, Mantle Array, Xenith |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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