Do I ship it?

GamesCo-opCo-op + Lovecraftian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Lovecraftian Co-op game?

Co-op + Lovecraftian

Of 21 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian Co-op 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.. 38 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $20k, ×14 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $9.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.2M, ×1472 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 38 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 13.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 38 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Lovecraftian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $93k → $22k → $412k → $33k → $29k → $10k (still earning) → $20k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Lovecraftian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $9.0k (exactly $9,017)
Median $20k (exactly $20,380)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $34,765)
Top 5% $2.2M (exactly $2,205,049)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 62
Announced 38
Effort 7 / 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 up 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Lovecraftian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Action, Exploration
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 8,416 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $9.1k, median $20k, 1 in 4 over $34k, 1 in 20 over $2.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $9.1k. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Remnant: From the Ashes older $39.99 47,193 84% 1.4M $57M (exactly $56,617,442) Gunfire Games
Returnal™ older $59.99 6,602 79% 198k $12M (exactly $11,881,619) Housemarque, Climax Studios
Demonologist older $19.99 18,886 85% 567k $11M (exactly $11,325,934) Clock Wizard Games
Labyrinthine older $9.99 13,779 84% 413k $4.1M (exactly $4,129,566) Valko Game Studios
The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu $29.99 3,107 69% 93k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) ACE Team
Hellpoint older $34.99 2,582 76% 77k $2.7M (exactly $2,710,325) Cradle Games
Crawl older $14.99 5,625 95% 169k $2.5M (exactly $2,529,562) Powerhoof
We Need To Go Deeper older $15.99 4,652 86% 140k $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) Deli Interactive LLC
ZEPHON $39.99 1,838 83% 55k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,049) Proxy Studios
Fade to Silence older $29.99 1,032 62% 31k $928k (exactly $928,490) Black Forest Games
Whisper Mountain Outbreak · EA $7.99 2,421 84% 73k $580k (exactly $580,314) Toge Productions
RailGods of Hysterra · EA $19.99 290 51% 8.7k $174k (exactly $173,913) Troglobytes Games
We Gotta Go $9.99 237 60% 7.1k $71k (exactly $71,029) FuzzyBot
Exorcist Simulator $9.99 116 66% 3.5k $35k (exactly $34,765) D.M.G.V
SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL $11.99 93 89% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) GasGod Games, GLUE MAN
SAVE · EA $11.99 91 48% 2.7k $33k (exactly $32,733) Influsion Inc.
Pizza Deathlivery $5.99 161 72% 4.8k $29k (exactly $28,932) Kusa Games
Nullpoint Protocol $14.99 62 61% 1.9k $28k (exactly $27,881) Everbloom Games

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