Games › Co-op › Co-op + Bullet Hell
Should I ship a Co-op Bullet Hell?
Co-op + Bullet Hell
Of 159 developers who shipped a Co-op Bullet Hell 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.. 200 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×1.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×253 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 200 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $540 (exactly $540) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.3k (exactly $2,336) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,812) |
| Top 5% | $379k (exactly $379,155) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 159 |
| Released games | 457 |
| Announced | 200 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Bullet Hell; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 34,391 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 74 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 200 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
Risk of Rain 2 2020 · $180M 
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
Vampire Survivors 2022 · $38M 
Enter the Gungeon 2016 · $36M 
Brotato 2023 · $17M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Risk of Rain 2 | older | $24.99 | 240,001 93% | 7.2M | $180M (exactly $179,928,750) | Hopoo Games |
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | Vampire Survivors | older | $4.99 | 251,686 98% | 7.6M | $38M (exactly $37,677,394) | poncle |
| | Enter the Gungeon | older | $14.99 | 79,392 95% | 2.4M | $36M (exactly $35,702,582) | Dodge Roll |
| | Brotato | older | $4.99 | 111,407 95% | 3.3M | $17M (exactly $16,677,628) | Blobfish |
 | Just Shapes & Beats | older | $19.99 | 24,041 97% | 721k | $14M (exactly $14,417,388) | Berzerk Studio |
 | Roboquest | older | $24.99 | 19,158 95% | 575k | $14M (exactly $14,362,753) | RyseUp Studios |
 | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
 | Hero Siege | older | $7.99 | 36,844 67% | 1.1M | $8.8M (exactly $8,831,507) | Panic Art Studios Ltd |
 | Crab Champions | · EA older | $9.99 | 26,546 97% | 796k | $8.0M (exactly $7,955,836) | Noisestorm |
 | The Spell Brigade | $12.99 | 14,731 80% | 442k | $5.7M (exactly $5,740,671) | Bolt Blaster Games | |
 | Pass the Fear | $18.99 | 2,985 79% | 90k | $1.7M (exactly $1,700,554) | PlayMud Studio | |
 | Pathogenic | $9.99 | 4,145 92% | 124k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) | Aberrant Labs | |
 | Gatekeeper | $14.99 | 2,706 82% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,216,888) | Gravity Lagoon | |
 | Neon Abyss 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,968 68% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,180,210) | Veewo Games |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Temtem: Swarm | $12.99 | 2,487 77% | 75k | $969k (exactly $969,184) | Crema, GGTech Studios | |
 | Sineus Arena Survivors | $10.99 | 1,150 77% | 35k | $379k (exactly $379,155) | Sineus Games | |
 | RIFTSTORM | · EA | $14.99 | 659 70% | 20k | $296k (exactly $296,352) | Confiction Labs, Agate |
 | Platypus Reclayed | $14.99 | 641 99% | 19k | $288k (exactly $288,258) | Claymatic Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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