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Should I ship an Underwater Submarine game?
Submarine + Underwater
Of 61 developers who shipped an Underwater Submarine 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.. 84 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 $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×279 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 84 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,485) |
| Top 5% | $175k (exactly $175,383) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 166 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Submarine
- 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
- Submarine; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 9,000 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Submarine with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NatureFair
- + StrategyFair
- + Naval CombatPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + SimulationPoor odds
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + NavalPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
Comparable games
Barotrauma 2023 · $65M 
Abyssus 2025 · $3.8M 
Iron Lung 2022 · $2.4M 
We Need To Go Deeper 2019 · $2.2M 
Wolfpack 2019 · EA · $2.0M | 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 |
| | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
| | Iron Lung | older | $7.99 | 10,168 92% | 305k | $2.4M (exactly $2,437,270) | David Szymanski |
| | 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 |
 | Under The Waves | older | $29.99 | 1,683 77% | 50k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,195) | Parallel Studio |
 | The Fisherman - Fishing Planet | older | $29.99 | 975 62% | 29k | $877k (exactly $877,208) | Fishing Planet LLC |
 | 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 |
 | IronWolf VR | older | $19.99 | 1,087 94% | 33k | $652k (exactly $651,874) | Ionized Studios |
 | Modern Naval Warfare | · EA | $59.99 | 237 58% | 7.1k | $427k (exactly $426,529) | Wave Ops |
 | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | 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 | |
 | Static Dread: The Submarine | $11.99 | 307 81% | 9.2k | $110k (exactly $110,428) | solarsuit.games | |
 | Subterror | $7.99 | 397 90% | 12k | $95k (exactly $95,161) | Team Monumental | |
 | Zen Aquarium | $4.99 | 302 93% | 9.1k | $45k (exactly $45,209) | Astro Cat | |
 | There's Nothing Down There | $2.00 | 394 84% | 12k | $24k (exactly $23,640) | Tim Trankle | |
 | 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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