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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Online Co-Op + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 28 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Choose Your Own Adventure 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.. 84 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.1M, ×1437 the market median. Revenue is up 230% on the market; 84 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,174) |
| Top 5% | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,323) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 8 / 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 230% on the market, supply 80% more 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.
- Online Co-Op
- effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Building, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 71% positive over 17,762 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Bullet HeavenStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + TypingFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
DayZ 2018 · $582M 
Anno 117: Pax Romana 2025 · $22M 
Watch Dogs®: Legion 2023 · $21M 
Car Service Together 2026 · EA · $2.2M 
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp 2020 · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DayZ | older | $49.99 | 387,850 78% | 12M | $582M (exactly $581,658,645) | Bohemia Interactive |
| | Anno 117: Pax Romana | $59.99 | 12,150 69% | 365k | $22M (exactly $21,866,355) | Ubisoft Mainz | |
| | Watch Dogs®: Legion | older | $59.99 | 11,891 56% | 357k | $21M (exactly $21,400,233) | Ubisoft Toronto |
| | Car Service Together | · EA | $19.99 | 3,589 79% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,152,323) | V12 Studio |
| | Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp | older | $11.99 | 4,994 97% | 150k | $1.8M (exactly $1,796,342) | Beautiful Glitch |
 | Spirit of the Island | older | $14.99 | 1,191 69% | 36k | $536k (exactly $535,593) | 1M Bits Horde |
 | Love Begins With Goodbye | $15.99 | 973 94% | 29k | $467k (exactly $466,748) | 大王工作室, 框嗒网络 | |
 | Caravanners | · EA | $17.99 | 712 35% | 21k | $384k (exactly $384,266) | Akif Akdemir |
 | Backrooms Rec. | · EA older | $6.99 | 1,830 68% | 55k | $384k (exactly $383,751) | Liminal Logic |
 | The Last Oricru - Final Cut | older | $19.99 | 557 67% | 17k | $334k (exactly $334,033) | GoldKnights |
 | Island Market Simulator | $12.99 | 171 76% | 5.1k | $67k (exactly $66,639) | Zentium Studio | |
 | Eydigard | · EA | $19.99 | 55 72% | 1.7k | $33k (exactly $32,984) | Frostisen Studio |
 | PLAYNESE: Master Japanese | · EA | $19.95 | 17 94% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,174) | Wynand Smit |
 | BACKROOMS: We Escape Forever | $6.99 | 35 62% | 1.1k | $7.3k (exactly $7,340) | Ziegler Studio, 치글러 스튜디오 | |
 | Good Luck | $4.99 | 42 69% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | Happybara Games | |
 | Platform 6 ONLINE | 6番線オンライン協力異変探し | $9.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | MFC STUDIO, SHINISE GAMES, KOSEI YASUDA |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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