Games › Co-op › Co-op + Combat Racing
Should I ship a Co-op Combat Racing game?
Co-op + Combat Racing
Of 22 developers who shipped a Co-op Combat Racing 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.. 58 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 $1.6k, ×1.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $930k, ×626 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 58 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,551) |
| Top 5% | $938k (exactly $938,387) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 86 |
| Announced | 58 |
| 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 up 80% on the market, supply 75% 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.
- Co-op
- effort 7 / 10 · low · co-op on Steam means online sessions and drop-in sync
- Combat Racing
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle physics plus weapons and AI drivers
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Combat Racing; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Racing, PvP
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Family Friendly, 1990's
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 14,751 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 14 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
Need for Speed™ Heat 2020 · $271M 
Need for Speed™ Payback 2020 · $25M 
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds 2025 · $24M 
Need for Speed™ 2020 · $23M 
Need for Speed™ Most Wanted 2020 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Payback | older | $29.99 | 27,424 85% | 823k | $25M (exactly $24,673,373) | Ghost Games |
| | Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | $69.99 | 11,479 93% | 344k | $24M (exactly $24,102,456) | Sonic Team | |
| | Need for Speed™ | older | $29.99 | 25,443 69% | 763k | $23M (exactly $22,891,067) | Ghost Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Most Wanted | older | $19.99 | 25,197 77% | 756k | $15M (exactly $15,110,641) | Criterion Games |
 | Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered | older | $29.99 | 13,583 81% | 407k | $12M (exactly $12,220,625) | Stellar Entertainment Limited |
 | Road Redemption | older | $19.99 | 10,842 83% | 325k | $6.5M (exactly $6,501,947) | Redemption Road, Pixel Dash Studios |
 | Need for Speed™ Rivals | older | $19.99 | 9,265 76% | 278k | $5.6M (exactly $5,556,220) | Criterion Games |
 | Burnout™ Paradise Remastered | older | $19.99 | 7,348 64% | 220k | $4.4M (exactly $4,406,596) | Stellar Entertainment, Criterion Games |
 | FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage Collector's Edition | older | $19.99 | 6,747 89% | 202k | $4.0M (exactly $4,046,176) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
 | The Karters 2: Turbo Charged | · EA | $29.99 | 1,043 91% | 31k | $938k (exactly $938,387) | Pixel Edge Games |
 | SimplePlanes 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 1,316 92% | 39k | $789k (exactly $789,205) | Jundroo, LLC |
 | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
 | Recharge: Room Games | · EA | $19.99 | 313 67% | 9.4k | $188k (exactly $187,706) | Room Games |
 | Blazing Trail | $12.99 | 63 85% | 1.9k | $25k (exactly $24,551) | Gamenergy studio | |
 | Code Velocity | $2.99 | 99 100% | 3.0k | $8.9k (exactly $8,880) | STIM GAMES | |
 | Drift Gang | $4.99 | 55 54% | 1.7k | $8.2k (exactly $8,234) | Beaked Games | |
 | Animal Falling | $7.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) | WOUAFL | |
 | RaceWorms | $5.49 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | Team Zandt |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.