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Should I ship a Co-op Character Customization game?
Co-op + Character Customization
Of 369 developers who shipped a Co-op Character Customization 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.. 907 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.9k, ×5.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.3M, ×3590 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 907 games are announced against 221 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,373) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) |
| Top 25% | $130k (exactly $130,211) |
| Top 5% | $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 369 |
| Released games | 1,022 |
| Announced | 907 |
| Effort | 7 / 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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Character Customization; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 990,207 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 6 in 10 of the 184 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 907 games are announced against 221 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 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
ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B 
DARK SOULS™ III 2016 · $500M 
Monster Hunter: World 2018 · $285M 
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
Monster Hunter Wilds 2025 · $241M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ELDEN RING | older | $59.99 | 831,470 93% | 25M | $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | DARK SOULS™ III | older | $59.99 | 278,034 94% | 8.3M | $500M (exactly $500,377,790) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | Monster Hunter: World | older | $29.99 | 317,068 89% | 9.5M | $285M (exactly $285,266,080) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Monster Hunter Wilds | $39.99 | 200,984 52% | 6.0M | $241M (exactly $241,120,505) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | EA SPORTS FC™ 26 | $69.99 | 99,773 50% | 3.0M | $209M (exactly $209,493,368) | EA Canada, EA Romania | |
 | Schedule I | · EA | $19.99 | 288,939 97% | 8.7M | $173M (exactly $173,276,718) | TVGS |
 | Mortal Kombat 11 | older | $49.99 | 87,021 88% | 2.6M | $131M (exactly $130,505,394) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC, Shiver |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | older | $39.99 | 108,477 72% | 3.3M | $130M (exactly $130,139,857) | Fatshark |
 | DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED | older | $39.99 | 100,222 92% | 3.0M | $120M (exactly $120,236,333) | QLOC, FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | PEAK | $7.99 | 301,964 94% | 9.1M | $72M (exactly $72,380,771) | Team PEAK | |
 | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
 | Nioh 3 | $69.99 | 11,777 78% | 353k | $25M (exactly $24,728,167) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | $69.99 | 11,479 93% | 344k | $24M (exactly $24,102,456) | Sonic Team | |
 | FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time | $59.99 | 11,771 91% | 353k | $21M (exactly $21,184,269) | LEVEL5 Inc. | |
 | Killing Floor 3 | $39.99 | 16,493 46% | 495k | $20M (exactly $19,786,652) | Tripwire Interactive | |
 | The Forever Winter | · EA | $29.99 | 21,376 68% | 641k | $19M (exactly $19,231,987) | Fun Dog Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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