Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Capitalism

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Capitalist Co-op game?

Co-op + Capitalism

Of 44 developers who shipped a Capitalist 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.. 69 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $30k, ×20 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×886 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 69 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 19.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 69 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Capitalism
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $3.9k → $80k → $77k → $51k → $4.7k (still earning) → $7.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Capitalism: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $6.2k (exactly $6,232)
Median $30k (exactly $29,670)
Top 25% $155k (exactly $155,101)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 87
Announced 69
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 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 24%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Capitalism
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Co-op; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Management, Sandbox
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 101,733 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $6.3k, median $30k, 1 in 4 over $150k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $6.3k. 4 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Co-op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SuperheroFair9 devs · median $11k · 17 announced
  2. + Boomer ShooterFair16 devs · median $6.9k · 24 announced
  3. + GamblingFair22 devs · median $4.4k · 32 announced
  4. + NinjaFair13 devs · median $4.2k · 13 announced
  5. + TypingLong shot16 devs · median $810 · 13 announced
  6. + Word GameLong shot23 devs · median $267 · 23 announced
  7. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds58 devs · median $515k · 127 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds12 devs · median $372k · 23 announced
  9. + AutomationPoor odds48 devs · median $369k · 110 announced
  10. + TransportationPoor odds17 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  11. + JRPGPoor odds15 devs · median $164k · 19 announced
  12. + Turn-BasedPoor odds12 devs · median $131k · 19 announced

All 230 pairs on the Co-op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B Fallout 76 2020 · $94M Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M Tropico 6 2019 · $24M Parkitect 2018 · $6.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
HELLDIVERS™ 2 older $39.99 838,901 76% 25M $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) Arrowhead Game Studios
Fallout 76 older $39.99 78,346 74% 2.4M $94M (exactly $93,991,696) Bethesda Game Studios
Supermarket Simulator $19.99 79,236 92% 2.4M $48M (exactly $47,517,829) Nokta Games
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Parkitect older $29.99 6,809 94% 204k $6.1M (exactly $6,126,057) Texel Raptor
Software Inc. · EA older $22.99 7,576 94% 227k $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) Coredumping
Waterpark Simulator $12.99 13,280 96% 398k $5.2M (exactly $5,175,216) CayPlay
NIMBY Rails · EA older $19.99 2,228 89% 67k $1.3M (exactly $1,336,132) Weird and Wry
Wrap House Simulator🌯 $14.99 2,951 87% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games
Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon Game older $19.99 1,388 72% 42k $832k (exactly $832,384) Innervoid Interactive
Ore Factory Squad ⛏️ $12.99 1,646 87% 49k $641k (exactly $641,446) threeW
Better Mart Simulator $14.99 1,238 89% 37k $557k (exactly $556,729) Exanticx Studio
NEW MONOPOLY® $29.99 531 36% 16k $478k (exactly $477,741) UBISOFT, Engine Software
Q-UP $9.99 1,126 93% 34k $337k (exactly $337,462) Everybody House Games
Tobacco Shop Simulator $11.99 826 89% 25k $297k (exactly $297,112) Business Tycoon
Aquapark Tycoon · EA $22.99 278 89% 8.3k $192k (exactly $191,737) Boxelware
Rest Area Simulator $9.99 621 85% 19k $186k (exactly $186,114) Oriseus Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.