Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Co-op game?

Co-op + Mechs

Only 18 developers shipped a Mech 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, The Forever Winter, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $32k, ×21 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $19M, ×12838 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 32 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 21.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 32 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $258k → $235k → $5.0M → $359 → $180k → $32k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $32k (exactly $31,907)
Top 25% $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534)
Top 5% $19M (exactly $19,231,987)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 97
Announced 32
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $12.99

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 55% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Mechs
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Character Customization, PvE
Price point
$12.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 51,374 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 $32k, 1 in 4 over $1.1M, 1 in 20 over $19M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 4 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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

Titanfall® 2 2020 · $229M Generation Zero® 2019 · $22M The Forever Winter 2024 · EA · $19M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Titanfall® 2 older $29.99 255,050 95% 7.7M $229M (exactly $229,468,485) Respawn Entertainment
Generation Zero® older $24.99 29,115 75% 873k $22M (exactly $21,827,516) Systemic Reaction™
The Forever Winter · EA $29.99 21,376 68% 641k $19M (exactly $19,231,987) Fun Dog Studios
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition older $39.99 11,103 64% 333k $13M (exactly $13,320,269) Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 older $59.99 6,225 69% 187k $11M (exactly $11,203,132) SANDLOT
Iron Harvest older $29.99 11,682 74% 350k $11M (exactly $10,510,295) KING Art
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS older $29.99 11,401 84% 342k $10M (exactly $10,257,480) Planetary Annihilation Inc
Mechabellum $14.99 17,856 84% 536k $8.0M (exactly $8,029,843) Game River
MechWarrior 5: Clans $29.99 5,565 74% 167k $5.0M (exactly $5,006,830) Piranha Games Inc.
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion $69.99 1,838 63% 55k $3.9M (exactly $3,859,249) Marvelous Inc.
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
BREAK ARTS III $17.99 334 80% 10k $180k (exactly $180,260) MercuryStudio
Super Mining Mechs $4.99 841 86% 25k $126k (exactly $125,898) Delayed Victory
Mining Merchant $6.99 410 88% 12k $86k (exactly $85,977) Delayed Victory
SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL $11.99 93 89% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) GasGod Games, GLUE MAN
Ironsand $7.49 142 68% 4.3k $32k (exactly $31,907) Renderise

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