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Should I ship a Co-op Level Editor game?
Co-op + Level Editor
Of 46 developers who shipped a Co-op Level Editor 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.. 118 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 $3.4k, ×2.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $9.2M, ×6168 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 118 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) |
| Top 25% | $123k (exactly $122,938) |
| Top 5% | $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 204 |
| Announced | 118 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Level Editor
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Level Editor; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Action, PvP
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 58,158 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 118 games are announced against 29 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
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020 · $39M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024 · $19M 
Titan Quest Anniversary Edition 2016 · $16M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition | older | $34.99 | 37,093 84% | 1.1M | $39M (exactly $38,936,522) | World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten… (World's Edge, Tantalus Media, Forgotten Empires) |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Age of Mythology: Retold | older | $29.99 | 20,943 90% | 628k | $19M (exactly $18,842,417) | World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantal… (World's Edge, Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, CaptureAge, Virtuos Games) |
| | Titan Quest Anniversary Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,876 91% | 776k | $16M (exactly $15,517,837) | Iron Lore Entertainment, THQ Nordic |
 | Rhythm Doctor | $19.99 | 25,021 98% | 751k | $15M (exactly $15,005,094) | 7th Beat Games | |
 | A Dance of Fire and Ice | older | $5.99 | 78,688 94% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,140,234) | 7th Beat Games |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Definitive Edition | $29.99 | 12,286 85% | 369k | $11M (exactly $11,053,714) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | SpeedRunners | older | $14.99 | 22,842 94% | 685k | $10M (exactly $10,272,047) | DoubleDutch Games |
 | Escape Simulator | older | $19.99 | 16,496 94% | 495k | $9.9M (exactly $9,892,651) | Pine Studio |
 | Door Kickers 2: Task Force North | $24.99 | 12,324 96% | 370k | $9.2M (exactly $9,239,303) | KillHouse Games | |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Unrailed 2: Back on Track | $19.99 | 1,794 88% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) | Indoor Astronaut | |
 | Wreckreation | $39.99 | 360 63% | 11k | $432k (exactly $431,892) | Three Fields Entertainment | |
 | Warside | $24.99 | 547 68% | 16k | $410k (exactly $410,086) | LAVABIRD | |
 | Torque Drift 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 376 62% | 11k | $225k (exactly $225,487) | Grease Monkey Games |
 | Hometopia | $8.99 | 777 57% | 23k | $210k (exactly $209,557) | Hometopia Inc. | |
 | HYPERBEAT | $14.99 | 381 99% | 11k | $171k (exactly $171,336) | Dreamware Media |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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