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Should I ship an Alternate-History Co-op game?
Co-op + Alternate History
Of 21 developers who shipped an Alternate-History Co-op 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.. 52 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×4.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×183 the market median. Revenue is up 205% on the market; 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.0k (exactly $7,016) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $35,065) |
| Top 5% | $274k (exactly $273,867) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 205% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Co-op
- effort 7 / 10 · low · co-op on Steam means online sessions and drop-in sync
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Online Co-Op, PvE
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 9,978 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.6k. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SuperheroFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + GamblingFair
- + NinjaFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Word GameLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
Comparable games
Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M 
Europa Universalis IV 2013 · $141M 
The Outlast Trials 2024 · $109M 
Assassin's Creed® III Remastered 2019 · $18M 
Zombie Army 4: Dead War 2021 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hearts of Iron IV | older | $49.99 | 274,901 90% | 8.2M | $412M (exactly $412,269,030) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | Europa Universalis IV | older | $49.99 | 94,114 87% | 2.8M | $141M (exactly $141,142,766) | Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tin… (Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto) |
| | The Outlast Trials | older | $39.99 | 90,997 92% | 2.7M | $109M (exactly $109,169,101) | Red Barrels |
| | Assassin's Creed® III Remastered | older | $39.99 | 14,646 63% | 439k | $18M (exactly $17,570,806) | Ubisoft Entertainment |
| | Zombie Army 4: Dead War | older | $49.99 | 10,028 86% | 301k | $15M (exactly $15,038,992) | Rebellion |
 | Wargame: Red Dragon | older | $29.99 | 15,758 88% | 473k | $14M (exactly $14,177,473) | Eugen Systems |
 | Iron Harvest | older | $29.99 | 11,682 74% | 350k | $11M (exactly $10,510,295) | KING Art |
 | SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE | older | $59.99 | 4,892 62% | 147k | $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) | ARTDINK |
 | Age of History II | older | $5.99 | 47,614 89% | 1.4M | $8.6M (exactly $8,556,236) | Łukasz Jakowski |
 | Wolfenstein: Youngblood | older | $19.99 | 12,702 43% | 381k | $7.6M (exactly $7,617,389) | MachineGames, Arkane Studios |
 | KLETKA | $9.99 | 6,374 90% | 191k | $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288) | Callback, ln404 | |
 | Solar Nations 2 | · EA | $14.99 | 609 85% | 18k | $274k (exactly $273,867) | Flomgus Games |
 | Thick As Thieves | $4.99 | 1,106 65% | 33k | $166k (exactly $165,568) | OtherSide Entertainment | |
 | C.A.S.T. (CHERNOZEM ANOMALY STRIKE TEAM) | $6.99 | 777 87% | 23k | $163k (exactly $162,937) | BRAIN DOES (NOT) WORK | |
 | iDigging | $2.99 | 729 69% | 22k | $65k (exactly $65,391) | TWEN | |
 | FEAR OF FAITH | · EA | $9.99 | 117 78% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | UNBREAKABLE ARK |
 | Battlefall: State of Conflict | · EA | $19.99 | 52 63% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | Kyoto Video Game Concern |
 | FULL METAL COFFIN | $4.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | Titanite, Mantle Array, Xenith | |
 | Alkurai | $6.99 | 57 77% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,953) | RedHouse Studios LLC. | |
 | Fizz Quiz | $14.99 | 20 50% | 600 | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) | Moon |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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