Do I ship it?

GamesHero ShooterHero Shooter + Co-op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Co-op Hero Shooter?

Hero Shooter + Co-op

Of 22 developers who shipped a Co-op Hero Shooter 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.. 53 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×2.6 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×1289 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 53 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 53 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hero Shooter + Co-op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.1k → $3.6k → $599 → $90 → $44k → $1.5k → $49k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hero Shooter + Co-op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,565)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $49,480)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 96
Announced 53
Effort 9 / 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 down 75% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 36%, 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.

Hero Shooter
effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
Co-op
effort 7 / 10 · low · co-op on Steam means online sessions and drop-in sync

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
9 / 10 · studio only
Systems
Hero Shooter, Co-op; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Online Co-Op
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 69% positive over 9,953 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $49k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 5 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hero Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SimulationLong shot31 devs · median $478 · 28 announced
  2. + Bullet HellLong shot59 devs · median $449 · 56 announced
  3. + Boomer ShooterLong shot30 devs · median $210 · 21 announced
  4. + MedievalLong shot10 devs · median $150 · 12 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds20 devs · median $7.2k · 51 announced
  6. + SuperheroPoor odds6 devs · median $6.3k · 11 announced
  7. + Battle RoyalePoor odds9 devs · median $3.6k · 29 announced
  8. + PvPPoor odds27 devs · median $2.3k · 127 announced
  9. + PlatformerPoor odds21 devs · median $2.2k · 33 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds25 devs · median $2.1k · 68 announced
  11. + PhysicsPoor odds27 devs · median $1.6k · 34 announced
  12. + AliensPoor odds18 devs · median $1.0k · 25 announced

All 87 pairs on the Hero Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III older $59.99 157,694 88% 4.7M $284M (exactly $283,801,892) Treyarch, Aspyr (Mac)
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition older $29.99 45,480 90% 1.4M $41M (exactly $40,918,356) PopCap
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare older $59.99 17,489 65% 525k $31M (exactly $31,474,953) Infinity Ward
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ older $29.99 15,372 71% 461k $14M (exactly $13,830,188) PopCap
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap $29.99 4,053 69% 122k $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) Robot Entertainment
Friends vs Friends older $9.99 10,860 83% 326k $3.3M (exactly $3,254,742) Brainwash Gang
Raw Data older $39.99 2,036 81% 61k $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) Survios
Wild Assault $14.99 3,861 68% 116k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) Combat Cat Studio
Serious Sam: Shatterverse $19.99 648 50% 19k $389k (exactly $388,606) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Warden's Will $14.99 304 70% 9.1k $137k (exactly $136,709) ELYZIO
Last Flag $4.99 576 73% 17k $86k (exactly $86,227) Night Street Games
STARVAULT VR $24.99 66 89% 2.0k $49k (exactly $49,480) Theia Games
KUNKUN Defender 2 $4.99 294 94% 8.8k $44k (exactly $44,012) Seal
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games
Rocket Squad: Infinity $14.99 31 22% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Jackto Studios
Shatterline $9.99 24 62% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Frag Lab LLC

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