Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + LGBTQ+

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Co-op game?

Co-op + LGBTQ+

Only 19 developers shipped an LGBTQ+ Co-op game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Borderlands 4, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $70k, ×47 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $120M, ×81120 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 22 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 46.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 22 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + LGBTQ+
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5M → $483k → $79k → $171k → $14k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + LGBTQ+: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Median $70k (exactly $70,153)
Top 25% $483k (exactly $483,479)
Top 5% $122M (exactly $121,518,038)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 64
Announced 22
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 down 30% on the market, supply 45% 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
LGBTQ+
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Character Customization, Local Co-Op
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 156,725 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.1k, median $70k, 1 in 4 over $480k, 1 in 20 over $120M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 3 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Co-op with a different setting or mood, 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

Dead by Daylight 2016 · $411M Borderlands 4 2025 · $122M NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M Far Cry® New Dawn 2019 · $39M Gears 5 2019 · $19M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dead by Daylight older $19.99 685,423 78% 21M $411M (exactly $411,048,173) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
Far Cry® New Dawn older $39.99 32,169 75% 965k $39M (exactly $38,593,149) Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft… (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai)
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
WEBFISHING $4.99 57,353 97% 1.7M $8.6M (exactly $8,585,744) lamedeveloper
Wolfenstein: Youngblood older $19.99 12,702 43% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,617,389) MachineGames, Arkane Studios
Call of Duty®: Vanguard older $59.99 4,172 67% 125k $7.5M (exactly $7,508,348) Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon… (Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, High Moon Studios, Raven Software, Beenox, Demonware)
WWE 2K25 $59.99 4,108 73% 123k $7.4M (exactly $7,393,168) Visual Concepts
Jujutsu Kaisen Cursed Clash older $59.99 3,051 60% 92k $5.5M (exactly $5,490,885) Byking Inc.
NBA 2K27 $69.99 1,698 53% 51k $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) Visual Concepts
The Headliners $7.99 8,534 86% 256k $2.0M (exactly $2,045,600) KAFI
LEGO® Horizon Adventures™ $39.99 403 60% 12k $483k (exactly $483,479) Guerrilla Games, Studio Gobo
HYPERBEAT $14.99 381 99% 11k $171k (exactly $171,336) Dreamware Media
Bureau of Contacts $7.99 569 81% 17k $136k (exactly $136,389) MIROWIN
Kings of Hell · EA $20.50 154 91% 4.6k $95k (exactly $94,710) StrawberryOctopus Productions

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