Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Pirates

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Pirate Co-op game?

Co-op + Pirates

Only 15 developers shipped a Pirate 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 Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 53 more are announced, ×5.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $12k, ×8.1 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×1866 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 53 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 53 announced, ×5.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Pirates
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.8M → $2.2k → $36k → $479 → $12k → $1.2k (still earning) → $78k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Pirates: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $12k (exactly $12,081)
Top 25% $78k (exactly $77,902)
Top 5% $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 69
Announced 53
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 up 125% on the market, supply 50% more 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
Pirates
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 4,727 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $12k, 1 in 4 over $77k, 1 in 20 over $2.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.9 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

Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 2015 · $13M Assassin’s Creed® Rogue 2015 · $13M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition older $39.99 322,072 88% 9.7M $386M (exactly $386,389,778) Rare Ltd
ATLAS · EA older $29.99 37,119 46% 1.1M $33M (exactly $33,395,964) Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 older $39.99 17,281 91% 518k $21M (exactly $20,732,016) Koei Tecmo
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 older $51.98 8,458 79% 254k $13M (exactly $13,189,405) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Assassin’s Creed® Rogue older $19.99 21,310 86% 639k $13M (exactly $12,779,607) Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev
ONE PIECE World Seeker older $59.99 4,941 77% 148k $8.9M (exactly $8,892,318) GANBARION Co., Ltd.
One Piece Burning Blood older $49.99 3,751 81% 113k $5.6M (exactly $5,625,375) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Skull and Bones older $29.99 4,650 65% 140k $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) Ubisoft Singapore
Blazing Sails older $14.99 8,361 87% 251k $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive
The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu $29.99 3,107 69% 93k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) ACE Team
Forgotten Seas $24.99 475 75% 14k $356k (exactly $356,108) Pangea Game Studios
Windward Horizon $19.99 401 79% 12k $240k (exactly $240,480) Tasharen Entertainment Inc.
Last Pirates: Die Together · EA $7.99 325 76% 9.8k $78k (exactly $77,902) RetroStyle Games
Dig, Dig, Die $7.99 321 64% 9.6k $77k (exactly $76,944) Alice Games
The Pirate: Republic of Nassau $19.99 25 68% 750 $15k (exactly $14,992) Home Net Games
hololive GoroGoro Mountain $12.99 35 77% 1.1k $14k (exactly $13,640) BeXide Inc.
Buccaneers Shipshape $12.99 31 87% 930 $12k (exactly $12,081) Merso Entertainment
Mutiny's Wake · EA $19.99 2 100% 60 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Apollo DevLabs
Nightmariners $4.49 5 80% 150 $674 (exactly $674) Ocean's Call Studios

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