Games › Co-op › Co-op + Souls-like
Should I ship a Co-op Souls-like?
Co-op + Souls-like
Of 46 developers who shipped a Co-op Souls-like 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.. 78 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $31k, ×21 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $19M, ×12878 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 78 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
|---|---|
| Median | $31k (exactly $31,245) |
| Top 25% | $422k (exactly $422,079) |
| Top 5% | $19M (exactly $19,291,367) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 134 |
| Announced | 78 |
| 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 up 60% on the market, supply 55% more developers than 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
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Souls-like; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Action RPG
- Price point
- $12.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $12.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 203,386 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.4k. 4 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B 
DARK SOULS™ III 2016 · $500M 
Monster Hunter: World 2018 · $285M 
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN 2025 · $155M 
DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED 2018 · $120M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ELDEN RING | older | $59.99 | 831,470 93% | 25M | $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | DARK SOULS™ III | older | $59.99 | 278,034 94% | 8.3M | $500M (exactly $500,377,790) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
| | Monster Hunter: World | older | $29.99 | 317,068 89% | 9.5M | $285M (exactly $285,266,080) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN | $39.99 | 129,476 83% | 3.9M | $155M (exactly $155,332,357) | FromSoftware, Inc. | |
| | DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED | older | $39.99 | 100,222 92% | 3.0M | $120M (exactly $120,236,333) | QLOC, FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
 | DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin | older | $39.99 | 83,722 84% | 2.5M | $100M (exactly $100,441,283) | FromSoftware, Inc. |
 | MONSTER HUNTER RISE | older | $39.99 | 79,847 84% | 2.4M | $96M (exactly $95,792,446) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Grounded | older | $39.99 | 75,755 90% | 2.3M | $91M (exactly $90,883,274) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | CODE VEIN | older | $59.99 | 46,315 83% | 1.4M | $83M (exactly $83,353,106) | Bandai Namco Studios |
 | Nioh 3 | $69.99 | 11,777 78% | 353k | $25M (exactly $24,728,167) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Grounded 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 21,442 82% | 643k | $19M (exactly $19,291,367) | Obsidian Entertainment, Eidos-Montréal |
 | Rise of the Ronin | $49.99 | 6,503 64% | 195k | $9.8M (exactly $9,752,549) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE | $39.99 | 7,662 70% | 230k | $9.2M (exactly $9,192,101) | Netmarble Neo | |
 | SWORN | $24.99 | 3,779 80% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Windwalk Games | |
 | The Headliners | $7.99 | 8,534 86% | 256k | $2.0M (exactly $2,045,600) | KAFI | |
 | FlyKnight | $5.99 | 10,432 96% | 313k | $1.9M (exactly $1,874,630) | Wabbaboy | |
 | IfSunSets | · EA | $19.99 | 2,284 74% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,369,715) | POLYMORPH |
 | Meta Ghost: Breaking Show | $17.99 | 1,497 72% | 45k | $808k (exactly $807,931) | Scarecrow Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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