Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Sailing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sailing game?

Sailing

Of 161 developers who shipped a Sailing 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.. 327 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×3.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.5M, ×2432 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 327 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 327 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Sailing
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 161
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $12k → $5.1k → $1.5k → $9.6k → $1.7k → $3.6k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Sailing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 161
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,336)
Top 25% $36k (exactly $36,264)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181)
Developers, 2 yr 161
Released games 434
Announced 327
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 up 25% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Sailing
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Sailing
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 107,775 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $36k, 1 in 20 over $1.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 86 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 327 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Sailing

48 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Sailing + Underwater Fair $3.9k 24 devs
  2. Base Building + Sailing Poor odds $356k 9 devs
  3. Immersive Sim + Sailing Poor odds $69k 16 devs
  4. Building + Sailing Poor odds $52k 13 devs
  5. Sandbox + Sailing Poor odds $45k 22 devs
  6. Co-op + Sailing Poor odds $38k 14 devs
  7. Sailing + Procedural Generation Poor odds $27k 10 devs
  8. Crafting + Sailing Poor odds $17k 26 devs
  9. Open World + Sailing Poor odds $15k 48 devs
  10. Action RPG + Sailing Poor odds $15k 18 devs
  11. Sailing + Resource Management Poor odds $8.5k 18 devs
  12. Survival + Sailing Poor odds $6.6k 24 devs
  13. Online Co-Op + Sailing Poor odds $6.6k 13 devs
  14. Sailing + Fantasy Poor odds $6.1k 25 devs
  15. Sailing + Mystery Poor odds $5.9k 14 devs
  16. Sailing + Simulation Poor odds $5.6k 63 devs
  17. Management + Sailing Poor odds $5.6k 16 devs
  18. RPG + Sailing Poor odds $5.4k 39 devs
  19. Character Customization + Sailing Poor odds $5.3k 18 devs
  20. Combat + Sailing Poor odds $5.1k 34 devs
  21. PvP + Sailing Poor odds $5.1k 10 devs
  22. Sailing + Exploration Poor odds $4.7k 92 devs
  23. Action-Adventure + Sailing Poor odds $4.7k 39 devs
  24. Sailing + Adventure Poor odds $3.9k 88 devs
  25. Sailing + Pirates Poor odds $3.9k 56 devs
  26. Sailing + Roguelite Poor odds $3.9k 14 devs
  27. Sailing + Choices Matter Poor odds $3.6k 10 devs
  28. Sailing + Naval Poor odds $3.6k 53 devs
  29. Physics + Sailing Poor odds $3.3k 18 devs
  30. Action + Sailing Poor odds $3.1k 55 devs
  31. PvE + Sailing Poor odds $3.1k 17 devs
  32. Sailing + Fishing Poor odds $2.9k 32 devs
  33. Sailing + Trading Poor odds $2.3k 21 devs
  34. Economy + Sailing Poor odds $2.3k 17 devs
  35. Naval Combat + Sailing Poor odds $2.2k 45 devs
  36. Sailing + Historical Poor odds $2.2k 26 devs
  37. Sailing + Nature Poor odds $1.6k 22 devs
  38. Sailing + Action Roguelike Poor odds $1.4k 19 devs
  39. Sailing + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $1.4k 12 devs
  40. Tactical + Sailing Poor odds $898 13 devs
  41. Sailing + Strategy Poor odds $719 42 devs
  42. Sailing + Roguelike Poor odds $700 22 devs
  43. Sailing + Arcade Poor odds $598 21 devs
  44. Shooter + Sailing Poor odds $598 10 devs
  45. Sailing + Puzzle Poor odds $479 15 devs
  46. Sailing + Turn-Based Strategy Dead $47k 6 devs
  47. Sports + Sailing Dead $2.7k 11 devs
  48. Racing + Sailing Dead $300 10 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced 2026 · $48M Windrose 2026 · EA · $43M Stormworks: Build and Rescue 2020 · $41M DREDGE 2023 · $36M
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
Stormworks: Build and Rescue older $24.99 54,649 90% 1.6M $41M (exactly $40,970,355) Geometa
DREDGE older $24.99 47,624 95% 1.4M $36M (exactly $35,703,713) Black Salt Games
ATLAS · EA older $29.99 37,119 46% 1.1M $33M (exactly $33,395,964) Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games
The Last Caretaker · EA $34.99 13,178 86% 395k $14M (exactly $13,832,947) Channel37 Ltd
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii $59.99 6,584 88% 198k $12M (exactly $11,849,225) RGG Studio
Naval Action older $19.99 10,187 52% 306k $6.1M (exactly $6,109,144) Bermuda Computer Club
Skull and Bones older $29.99 4,650 65% 140k $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) Ubisoft Singapore
Aloft · EA $24.99 3,057 82% 92k $2.3M (exactly $2,291,833) Astrolabe Interactive Inc.
Seafarer: The Ship Sim · EA $34.99 1,921 64% 58k $2.0M (exactly $2,016,474) astragon Development
Voyagers of Nera · EA $29.99 2,022 83% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,819,193) Treehouse Games
Ys X: Nordics $59.99 890 76% 27k $1.6M (exactly $1,601,733) Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
Finnish Cottage Simulator · EA $14.99 3,396 93% 102k $1.5M (exactly $1,527,181) RANELA GAMES
Salt 2: Shores of Gold $19.99 2,182 85% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,308,545) Lavaboots Studios

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