Should I ship a Pirate game?
Pirates
Of 216 developers who shipped a Pirate 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.. 396 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×609 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 396 games are announced against 120 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,319) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,566) |
| Top 5% | $383k (exactly $382,609) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 216 |
| Released games | 773 |
| Announced | 396 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 down 35% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Pirates
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 106,103 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 118 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 396 games are announced against 120 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
All pairs with Pirates
- PvP + Pirates Poor odds $899
- Turn-Based Combat + Pirates Poor odds $898
- Combat + Pirates Poor odds $839
- Choose Your Own Adventure + Pirates Poor odds $718
- Arcade + Pirates Poor odds $600
- Third-Person Shooter + Pirates Poor odds $599
- Shooter + Pirates Poor odds $449
- Top-Down Shooter + Pirates Poor odds $359
- Shoot 'Em Up + Pirates Poor odds $269
- Swordplay + Pirates Dead $156k
- RTS + Pirates Dead $54k
- City Builder + Pirates Dead $13k
- Strategy RPG + Pirates Dead $3.4k
- Hack and Slash + Pirates Dead $2.2k
- 2D Platformer + Pirates Dead $1.5k
- Real Time Tactics + Pirates Dead $719
- Precision Platformer + Pirates Dead $599
- Local Co-Op + Pirates Dead $479
- Point & Click + Pirates Dead $449
- Local Multiplayer + Pirates Dead $359
- Board Game + Pirates Dead $240
Comparable games
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced 2026 · $48M 
Windrose 2026 · EA · $43M 
ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M 
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | $59.99 | 26,652 81% | 800k | $48M (exactly $47,965,604) | Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, U… (Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Barcelona, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Belgrade, Ubisoft Chengdu, Ubisoft India, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Philippines, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Romania) | |
| | Windrose | · EA | $29.99 | 47,893 86% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) | Kraken Express |
| | ATLAS | · EA older | $29.99 | 37,119 46% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $33,395,964) | Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games |
| | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
 | Return of the Obra Dinn | older | $19.99 | 32,309 96% | 969k | $19M (exactly $19,375,707) | Lucas Pope |
 | One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 | older | $51.98 | 8,458 79% | 254k | $13M (exactly $13,189,405) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Assassin’s Creed® Rogue | older | $19.99 | 21,310 86% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,779,607) | Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev |
 | Marauders | · EA older | $29.99 | 13,505 68% | 405k | $12M (exactly $12,150,448) | Small Impact Games |
 | Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | $59.99 | 6,584 88% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,849,225) | RGG Studio | |
 | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
 | Corsair Cove | $39.99 | 3,026 85% | 91k | $3.6M (exactly $3,630,292) | Limbic Entertainment | |
 | The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu | $29.99 | 3,107 69% | 93k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) | ACE Team | |
 | Age of Water | $29.99 | 2,883 72% | 86k | $2.6M (exactly $2,593,835) | Three Whales Studio | |
 | Salt 2: Shores of Gold | $19.99 | 2,182 85% | 65k | $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) | Lavaboots Studios | |
 | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
 | Ys X: Proud Nordics | $59.99 | 336 75% | 10k | $605k (exactly $604,699) | Nihon Falcom |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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