Games › Co-op › Co-op + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Co-op Shoot 'Em Up?
Co-op + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 98 developers who shipped a Co-op Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 140 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×54 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 140 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) |
| Top 5% | $81k (exactly $80,919) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 98 |
| Released games | 471 |
| Announced | 140 |
| 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 60% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Shooter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,130 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 55 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M 
Journey To The Savage Planet 2021 · $5.1M 
Raw Data 2017 · $2.4M 
HUNTDOWN 2021 · $2.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | PAYDAY 3 | older | $29.99 | 49,305 45% | 1.5M | $44M (exactly $44,359,708) | Starbreeze Studios |
| | Journey To The Savage Planet | older | $29.99 | 5,674 87% | 170k | $5.1M (exactly $5,104,898) | Typhoon |
| | Raw Data | older | $39.99 | 2,036 81% | 61k | $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) | Survios |
| | HUNTDOWN | older | $19.99 | 4,059 94% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) | Easy Trigger Games |
 | Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 | older | $12.99 | 4,742 94% | 142k | $1.8M (exactly $1,847,957) | Rogueside, Claeysbrothers |
 | METAL SLUG 3 | older | $7.99 | 6,976 90% | 209k | $1.7M (exactly $1,672,147) | SNK CORPORATION, Dotemu |
 | Kill It With Fire | older | $12.99 | 4,036 95% | 121k | $1.6M (exactly $1,572,829) | Casey Donnellan Games LLC |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef | older | $19.99 | 2,586 87% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,550,824) | Rogueside |
 | After the Fall® | older | $19.99 | 2,572 76% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) | Vertigo Games |
 | Greedland | $12.99 | 2,919 83% | 88k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) | VaMP He | |
 | Platypus Reclayed | $14.99 | 641 99% | 19k | $288k (exactly $288,258) | Claymatic Games | |
 | Warden's Will | $14.99 | 304 70% | 9.1k | $137k (exactly $136,709) | ELYZIO | |
 | Shape Shifter: Formations | $14.99 | 269 91% | 8.1k | $121k (exactly $120,969) | Castec Studios | |
 | The Horde Wants You Dead | $9.99 | 270 64% | 8.1k | $81k (exactly $80,919) | Bellyflop Games | |
 | Truxton Extreme | $24.99 | 93 95% | 2.8k | $70k (exactly $69,722) | Tatsujin | |
 | Broventure: The Wild Co-op | $4.99 | 398 72% | 12k | $60k (exactly $59,581) | Alice Games | |
 | UNDER DEFEAT | $19.99 | 81 95% | 2.4k | $49k (exactly $48,576) | CITY CONNECTION, TAKE×0FF | |
 | R-Type Dimensions III | $34.99 | 46 34% | 1.4k | $48k (exactly $48,286) | KRITZELKRATZ 3000 | |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games |
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.