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Should I ship a Co-op Shop Keeper?
Co-op + Shop Keeper
Of 40 developers who shipped a Co-op Shop Keeper 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.. 96 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $13k, ×8.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $570k, ×382 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 96 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.2k (exactly $4,190) |
|---|---|
| Median | $13k (exactly $12,594) |
| Top 25% | $95k (exactly $95,336) |
| Top 5% | $572k (exactly $571,802) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 96 |
| 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 down 85% on the market, supply 255% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Shop Keeper
- 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, Shop Keeper; all of the top 25% also carry Management, Online Co-Op, Simulation
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,237 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.2k. 5 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Grocery Store Simulator | $14.99 | 5,337 90% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,400,049) | EXPERIMENT ONE | |
| | Boba Cafe Simulator | $15.99 | 1,192 92% | 36k | $572k (exactly $571,802) | Caikemi | |
| | Better Mart Simulator | $14.99 | 1,238 89% | 37k | $557k (exactly $556,729) | Exanticx Studio | |
| | Fuel Harvest Together | $13.99 | 879 69% | 26k | $369k (exactly $368,916) | Say2Sun | |
| | The House Always Wins | $12.99 | 866 85% | 26k | $337k (exactly $337,480) | Toxic Studio | |
| | Tobacco Shop Simulator | $11.99 | 826 89% | 25k | $297k (exactly $297,112) | Business Tycoon | |
| | Anime Shop Simulator ✨ | $14.99 | 589 73% | 18k | $265k (exactly $264,873) | One More Time | |
| | Retail Company Simulator | older | $11.99 | 603 90% | 18k | $217k (exactly $216,899) | Business Tycoon |
| | Rest Area Simulator | $9.99 | 621 85% | 19k | $186k (exactly $186,114) | Oriseus Studios | |
| | Happy's Humble Burger Cult | $9.99 | 477 86% | 14k | $143k (exactly $142,957) | Scythe Dev Team | |
| | Deep Blue Sushi | · EA | $14.99 | 212 75% | 6.4k | $95k (exactly $95,336) | PaperPixel Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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