Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Fishing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Fishing game?

Fishing

Of 393 developers who shipped a Fishing 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.. 705 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $560k, ×1196 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 705 games are announced against 228 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 705 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Fishing
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 393
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $8.7k → $7.2k → $3.1k → $2.7k → $4.2k → $2.2k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Fishing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 393
Bottom 30% $597 (exactly $597)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,516)
Top 25% $34k (exactly $33,583)
Top 5% $568k (exactly $568,273)
Developers, 2 yr 393
Released games 844
Announced 705
Effort 4 / 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 up 15% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Fishing
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Fishing
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 182,883 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $33k, 1 in 20 over $560k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 202 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 705 games are announced against 228 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Fishing

78 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Sailing + Fishing Poor odds $2.9k 32 devs
  2. Action + Fishing Poor odds $2.8k 78 devs
  3. Fishing + Resource Management Poor odds $2.8k 71 devs
  4. Fishing + Roguelike Poor odds $2.5k 22 devs
  5. PvE + Fishing Poor odds $2.4k 32 devs
  6. Fishing + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 24 devs
  7. Creature Collector + Fishing Poor odds $2.3k 92 devs
  8. Fishing + Fantasy Poor odds $2.3k 61 devs
  9. Strategy + Fishing Poor odds $2.3k 43 devs
  10. Fishing + Procedural Generation Poor odds $2.2k 17 devs
  11. Fishing + Inventory Management Poor odds $2.2k 35 devs
  12. Fishing + Multiple Endings Poor odds $1.9k 16 devs
  13. Fishing + Walking Simulator Poor odds $1.9k 14 devs
  14. Action-Adventure + Fishing Poor odds $1.8k 44 devs
  15. Fishing + Mining Poor odds $1.8k 36 devs
  16. Hunting + Fishing Poor odds $1.8k 28 devs
  17. Fishing + Nature Poor odds $1.8k 120 devs
  18. Fishing + Idler Poor odds $1.8k 98 devs
  19. Loot + Fishing Poor odds $1.7k 22 devs
  20. Fishing + Medieval Poor odds $1.7k 9 devs
  21. Fishing + 2D Platformer Poor odds $1.5k 13 devs
  22. Fishing + Underwater Poor odds $1.3k 65 devs
  23. Fishing + Point & Click Poor odds $958 29 devs
  24. Fishing + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $450 9 devs
  25. PvP + Fishing Dead $51k 6 devs
  26. Dungeon Crawler + Fishing Dead $17k 12 devs
  27. JRPG + Fishing Dead $5.4k 13 devs
  28. Fishing + Hidden Object Dead $1.9k 12 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stardew Valley 2016 · $402M DAVE THE DIVER 2023 · $86M Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition 2020 · $42M DREDGE 2023 · $36M Disney Dreamlight Valley 2023 · $26M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stardew Valley older $14.99 894,201 98% 27M $402M (exactly $402,122,190) ConcernedApe
DAVE THE DIVER older $19.99 142,662 96% 4.3M $86M (exactly $85,554,401) MINTROCKET
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition older $29.99 47,176 94% 1.4M $42M (exactly $42,444,247) Thunder Lotus
DREDGE older $24.99 47,624 95% 1.4M $36M (exactly $35,703,713) Black Salt Games
Disney Dreamlight Valley older $39.99 22,027 92% 661k $26M (exactly $26,425,792) Gameloft
Coral Island older $29.99 21,828 89% 655k $20M (exactly $19,638,652) Stairway Games
Sun Haven older $24.99 22,069 79% 662k $17M (exactly $16,545,129) Pixel Sprout Studios
Dinkum $19.99 24,641 92% 739k $15M (exactly $14,777,208) James Bendon
How to Fish $7.99 57,661 95% 1.7M $14M (exactly $13,821,342) Dazed Games
Feed and Grow: Fish · EA older $14.99 20,750 78% 623k $9.3M (exactly $9,331,275) Old B1ood
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Cast n Chill $14.99 8,383 94% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,769,835) Wombat Brawler
The Quinfall $9.99 12,073 50% 362k $3.6M (exactly $3,618,278) Vawraek Technology Inc.
Farm Together 2 $25.99 4,456 93% 134k $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) Milkstone Studios
Go-Go Town! $27.99 2,476 93% 74k $2.1M (exactly $2,079,097) Prideful Sloth
Doloc Town $19.99 3,166 94% 95k $1.9M (exactly $1,898,650) RedSaw Games Studio
FlyKnight $5.99 10,432 96% 313k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,630) Wabbaboy
Mirthwood $24.99 2,242 69% 67k $1.7M (exactly $1,680,827) Bad Ridge Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.