Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + 4X
Should I ship an Online Co-Op 4X?
Online Co-Op + 4X
Only 5 developers shipped a paid Online Co-Op 4X in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Duel Corp., made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 17 more are announced, ×8.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.
Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.0k against a market of $1.5k. 17 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $314k (exactly $314,048) |
| Top 5% | $938k (exactly $937,875) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 5 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 43%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Online Co-Op
- effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
- 4X
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, 4X
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 379,831 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Bullet HeavenStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + TypingFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M 
Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition 2021 · $87M 
Anno 2070™ 2011 · $6.9M 
Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion 2012 · $6.1M 
Galactic Civilizations IV 2023 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI | older | $59.99 | 276,113 86% | 8.3M | $497M (exactly $496,920,566) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition | older | $39.99 | 72,275 85% | 2.2M | $87M (exactly $86,708,318) | World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forg… (World's Edge, Relic Entertainment, Forgotten Empires, Climax Studios) |
| | Anno 2070™ | older | $19.99 | 11,571 59% | 347k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,129) | Blue Byte, Related Designs |
| | Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion | older | $19.99 | 10,243 93% | 307k | $6.1M (exactly $6,142,727) | Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment) |
| | Galactic Civilizations IV | older | $39.99 | 2,207 72% | 66k | $2.6M (exactly $2,647,738) | Stardock Entertainment |
 | Oriental Empires | older | $29.99 | 2,584 80% | 78k | $2.3M (exactly $2,324,825) | Shining Pixel Studios |
 | Thea 2: The Shattering | older | $24.99 | 1,892 79% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,418,432) | MuHa Games, Eerie Forest Studio |
 | Duel Corp. | · EA | $24.99 | 1,251 71% | 38k | $938k (exactly $937,875) | Dreameffect Entertainment |
 | AI War 2 | older | $19.99 | 1,130 87% | 34k | $678k (exactly $677,661) | Arcen Games |
 | Lawgivers II | · EA older | $24.99 | 565 73% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | Damian Bernardi |
 | Thrive: Heavy Lies The Crown | $27.99 | 374 54% | 11k | $314k (exactly $314,048) | Zugalu Entertainment | |
 | Let's Build Wonders: Galaxy | $6.99 | 5 20% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Sunjoy Meta | |
 | The Little World | $5.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $180 (exactly $180) | KS Studio | |
 | Hollow Stars | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | AppGX |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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