Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Diplomacy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Co-op Diplomacy game?

Co-op + Diplomacy

Only 4 developers shipped a Co-op Diplomacy game in the last 2 years. Over 4 years, 10 did: 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.. 21 more are announced, ×21 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

Only 1 developer shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $800k against a market of $1.5k. 21 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 532.7 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 21 announced, ×21 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Diplomacy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Co-op + Diplomacy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 4 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $195k (exactly $194,720)
Median $420k (exactly $420,479)
Top 25% $798k (exactly $797,940)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $12,135,582)
Developers, 4 yr 10
Released games 30
Announced 21
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $14.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 65% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Diplomacy
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Diplomacy
Price point
$14.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 4 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 599,008 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 4 years by share: 3 in 10 under $200k, median $420k, 1 in 4 over $790k, 1 in 20 over $12M.

3 in 10 developers made under $200k. 21 games are announced against 1 developer who shipped in the last year, ×21 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Co-op with a different second tag, 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

Hearts of Iron IV 2016 · $412M Europa Universalis IV 2013 · $141M Sid Meier's Civilization® V 2010 · $115M Tropico 6 2019 · $24M Dune: Spice Wars 2023 · $12M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hearts of Iron IV older $49.99 274,901 90% 8.2M $412M (exactly $412,269,030) Paradox Development Studio
Europa Universalis IV older $49.99 94,114 87% 2.8M $141M (exactly $141,142,766) Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tin… (Paradox Development Studio, Paradox Tinto)
Sid Meier's Civilization® V older $29.99 128,186 95% 3.8M $115M (exactly $115,328,944) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Tropico 6 older $39.99 19,837 88% 595k $24M (exactly $23,798,449) Limbic Entertainment, Realmforge Studios
Dune: Spice Wars older $34.99 11,561 79% 347k $12M (exactly $12,135,582) Shiro Games
Age of History II older $5.99 47,614 89% 1.4M $8.6M (exactly $8,556,236) Łukasz Jakowski
Old World older $39.99 6,002 82% 180k $7.2M (exactly $7,200,599) Mohawk Games
Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion older $19.99 10,243 93% 307k $6.1M (exactly $6,142,727) Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment)
ENDLESS Legend™ 2 · EA $49.99 2,476 83% 74k $3.7M (exactly $3,713,257) AMPLITUDE Studios
NEBULOUS: Fleet Command · EA older $29.99 4,074 81% 122k $3.7M (exactly $3,665,378) Eridanus Industries
Guilty as Sock! $5.50 4,836 89% 145k $798k (exactly $797,940) Demon Max
Rename the History $4.99 8 37% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) Codime Dev
PingWin $0.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) GameBit Hubert Klich

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