# Cat Goes Fishing

> ResidualPlay case file: an overlooked Steam game still earning residual revenue. Estimates carry a ±30-50% error range per title.

- Steam appid: 343780
- Developer: Cat5Games
- Released: 2015 · Genre: Casual · List price: $6.99
- Deal grade: A (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $5.9k to $8.9k per month (mid $7.4k)
- Opportunity score: $14.1k/month at x1.90 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 996.6k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $1.5M
- Review sentiment: 94% positive across 16450 reviews (15333 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 197.5 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 2.1 years
- Studio quiet across its whole catalog
- Last build shipped 25 months ago
- Store page localized in only 1 language(s)
- Last discounted 1 months ago, 4 sales in the last 12 months

## Where a gross dollar goes (monthly, at current velocity)

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $13.5k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $11.7k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $10.6k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $7.4k |

## Monthly review counts, oldest to newest (24 months)

259, 155, 179, 185, 265, 306, 289, 249, 175, 171, 218, 212, 166, 136, 126, 142, 166, 190, 172, 239, 187, 205, 187, 195

## Estimated acquisition range

$178.0k to $356.1k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $89.0k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

A casual fishing sim where you play as a cat, unlock species progressively, and upgrade gear through a long-tail collection loop.

Cat Goes Fishing has generated $1.5M lifetime on 996K units at $7, with 94% positive reviews and a steady 7.4K/mo residual. The community is genuinely attached, though reviews reveal friction points: realism mode balance issues, fullscreen bugs, late-game grind obscurity, and repetitive core loop fatigue. The title is dormant (dev silent 25 months), but the IP is proprietary, monetization is clean, and player retention data suggests a modest but durable evergreen. A lightweight content patch or mobile port refresh could unlock 20-30% uplift without heavy engineering.

- Most realistic play: revival
- Risk (tech): Fullscreen and compatibility bugs are documented in reviews; modern OS support (Windows 11+, newer macOS) may be broken.
- Risk (market): Core loop hits diminishing appeal after 30-50 hours; endgame content requires wiki consultation, suggesting design clarity gaps.
- Risk (other): Single-person studio status (1 title, 25 months since last dev post) indicates abandonment risk or founder burnout; ownership and code access unclear.

What players are asking for:
- Realism mode difficulty rebalance (grind time is prohibitive, e.g., 2-hour single fish reel)
- Quest/progression clarity: late-game fish requirements should not require external wiki lookup
- Fullscreen and UI scaling fixes for modern displays
- Mobile version or cross-platform save support (player nostalgia from iPad version is strong)

Suggested first moves:
1. Acquire source code and rights from Cat5Games; confirm IP ownership is clean and unencumbered. Assess code quality, tech debt, and OS compatibility.
2. Publish a patch addressing the three documented bugs (fullscreen, realism mode EXP/time scaling, quest clarity) and deploy a trailer highlighting 'fixed and ready for 2025'. Target 15-25% sales lift from patch PR.
3. Explore mobile (iOS/Android) conversion or release a 'Cat Goes Fishing: Deluxe' with 3-5 new fish species, chill soundtrack expansion, and cross-platform cloud save. Piggybacking on nostalgia from iPad adopters could unlock 30-50K new units at 1.2x price.

Generated 2026-08-20 from public signals and player reviews. Directional, not diligence.

## Methodology

Units are estimated from Steam-purchase reviews times a release-cohort multiplier (Boxleiter method, 20-75x by year). Revenue uses an effective price (lifetime discounts and regional pricing) and nets out VAT (~13%), refunds (~9.5%) and Steam's 30% cut: roughly 55% of gross reaches the developer.

Source: https://residualplay.com/game/343780
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.