Games › Strategy › Strategy + Underwater
Should I ship an Underwater Strategy game?
Strategy + Underwater
Of 46 developers who shipped an Underwater Strategy 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.. 65 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×679 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 65 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,438) |
| Top 5% | $427k (exactly $426,529) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 106 |
| Announced | 65 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 140% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
- Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Resource Management
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 5,208 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Raft 2022 · $194M 
Barotrauma 2023 · $65M 
Stranded Deep 2022 · $26M 
Feed and Grow: Fish 2016 · EA · $9.3M 
Megaquarium 2018 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Raft | older | $19.99 | 323,481 93% | 9.7M | $194M (exactly $193,991,556) | Redbeet Interactive |
| | Barotrauma | older | $34.99 | 61,905 94% | 1.9M | $65M (exactly $64,981,678) | FakeFish, Undertow Games |
| | Stranded Deep | older | $19.99 | 43,628 74% | 1.3M | $26M (exactly $26,163,712) | Beam Team Games |
| | Feed and Grow: Fish | · EA older | $14.99 | 20,750 78% | 623k | $9.3M (exactly $9,331,275) | Old B1ood |
| | Megaquarium | older | $24.99 | 3,444 95% | 103k | $2.6M (exactly $2,581,967) | Twice Circled |
 | Insaniquarium Deluxe | older | $4.99 | 6,398 96% | 192k | $958k (exactly $957,781) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
 | Silent Hunter® III | older | $9.99 | 2,544 87% | 76k | $762k (exactly $762,437) | Ubisoft |
 | Silent Hunter 5®: Battle of the Atlantic | older | $9.99 | 2,450 44% | 74k | $734k (exactly $734,265) | Ubisoft Romania |
 | Surviving the Abyss | $19.99 | 1,044 64% | 31k | $626k (exactly $626,087) | Rocket Flair Studios | |
 | Aquatico | older | $24.99 | 786 67% | 24k | $589k (exactly $589,264) | Digital Reef Games |
 | Primordialis | · EA | $19.99 | 974 93% | 29k | $584k (exactly $584,108) | Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut |
 | Modern Naval Warfare | · EA | $59.99 | 237 58% | 7.1k | $427k (exactly $426,529) | Wave Ops |
 | Ecosystem | $19.99 | 601 76% | 18k | $360k (exactly $360,420) | Tom Johnson | |
 | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | Captain Whiskers: Incremental Seas | $5.99 | 886 85% | 27k | $159k (exactly $159,214) | Happy Universe Studios | |
 | Life Below | $29.99 | 150 80% | 4.5k | $135k (exactly $134,955) | Megapop | |
 | Oceaneers | · EA | $24.99 | 103 86% | 3.1k | $77k (exactly $77,219) | Barrel Smash Studios |
 | NAMAKORIUM (ナマコリウム) | $11.99 | 148 93% | 4.4k | $53k (exactly $53,236) | Polyscape Inc. | |
 | Deep Crafter | · EA | $17.99 | 76 68% | 2.3k | $41k (exactly $41,017) | Deep Crafter Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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