Games › Co-op › Co-op + Beat 'em up
Should I ship a Co-op Beat 'em up?
Co-op + Beat 'em up
Of 74 developers who shipped a Co-op Beat 'em up 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.. 125 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×7.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $3.8M, ×2576 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 125 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $11,078) |
| Top 25% | $91k (exactly $90,714) |
| Top 5% | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 74 |
| Released games | 325 |
| Announced | 125 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Beat 'em up; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Hack and Slash
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 48,035 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 125 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op with a different second tag, 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
Castle Crashers® 2012 · $49M 
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 2016 · $43M 
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2015 · $34M 
Batman™: Arkham Origins 2013 · $27M 
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 2016 · $27M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
| | NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 | older | $19.99 | 72,409 90% | 2.2M | $43M (exactly $43,423,677) | CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. |
| | DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE | older | $64.98 | 17,554 89% | 527k | $34M (exactly $34,219,768) | DIMPS |
| | Batman™: Arkham Origins | older | $19.99 | 45,536 90% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,307,939) | WB Games Montreal, Splash Damage |
| | DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 | older | $19.99 | 45,155 90% | 1.4M | $27M (exactly $27,079,453) | QLOC, Dimps Corporation |
 | Police Simulator: Patrol Officers | older | $39.99 | 18,880 75% | 566k | $23M (exactly $22,650,336) | Aesir Interactive |
 | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
 | DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 11,886 83% | 357k | $18M (exactly $17,825,434) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
 | Paint the Town Red | older | $19.99 | 29,141 96% | 874k | $17M (exactly $17,475,858) | South East Games |
 | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
 | Absolum | $24.99 | 9,399 91% | 282k | $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) | Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks | |
 | Rotwood | $29.99 | 7,459 74% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) | Klei Entertainment | |
 | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
 | Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion | $69.99 | 1,838 63% | 55k | $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) | Marvelous Inc. | |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | Stick It to the Stickman | · EA | $11.99 | 7,918 96% | 238k | $2.8M (exactly $2,848,105) | Free Lives |
 | MARVEL Cosmic Invasion | $29.99 | 2,298 88% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) | Tribute Games Inc. | |
 | Tears of Metal | · EA | $24.99 | 2,359 85% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,768,542) | Paper Cult |
 | Towerborne | $24.99 | 1,057 69% | 32k | $792k (exactly $792,433) | Stoic | |
 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind | $34.99 | 713 65% | 21k | $748k (exactly $748,436) | Digital Eclipse |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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