Games › Co-op › Co-op + Puzzle Platformer
Should I ship a Co-op Puzzle Platformer?
Co-op + Puzzle Platformer
Of 138 developers who shipped a Co-op Puzzle Platformer 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.. 209 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×199 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 209 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $358 (exactly $358) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,592) |
| Top 5% | $297k (exactly $297,451) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 138 |
| Released games | 372 |
| Announced | 209 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Puzzle Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Puzzle Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Online Co-Op, Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 99,071 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 209 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | Human Fall Flat | older | $19.99 | 174,835 94% | 5.2M | $105M (exactly $104,848,549) | No Brakes Games |
| | Little Nightmares II | older | $29.99 | 50,280 92% | 1.5M | $45M (exactly $45,236,916) | Tarsier Studios |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince | older | $29.99 | 11,712 88% | 351k | $11M (exactly $10,537,286) | Frozenbyte |
| | Trine 2: Complete Story | older | $19.99 | 15,273 95% | 458k | $9.2M (exactly $9,159,218) | Frozenbyte |
| | Chained Together | older | $4.99 | 54,747 89% | 1.6M | $8.2M (exactly $8,195,626) | Anegar Games, Lab42 |
| | Trine Enchanted Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,843 95% | 385k | $5.8M (exactly $5,775,497) | Frozenbyte |
| | Farever | · EA | $19.99 | 8,968 75% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) | Shiro Games |
| | LEGO® Voyagers | $24.99 | 1,859 88% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,393,692) | Light Brick Studio | |
| | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
| | Carry The Glass | $4.99 | 2,839 75% | 85k | $425k (exactly $424,998) | Çağatay Demir, Enes Kaplan | |
| | Biped 2 | $14.99 | 813 71% | 24k | $366k (exactly $365,606) | META Publishing, NEXT Studios, PlayJoy… (META Publishing, NEXT Studios, PlayJoy Studios) | |
| | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt | |
| | BOKURA: planet | $5.49 | 1,459 74% | 44k | $240k (exactly $240,297) | tokoronyori | |
| | Climb The Backrooms | $4.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $152k (exactly $151,646) | LovDEV | |
| | Log Riders | $4.99 | 660 70% | 20k | $99k (exactly $98,802) | Bluespy Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.