Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Space Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Co-op Space Sim?

Co-op + Space Sim

Of 30 developers who shipped a Co-op Space Sim 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.. 62 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×2.8 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $4.5M, ×3022 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 62 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 62 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Space Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $11k → $643k → $4.2k → $4.9k → $45k → $1.8k (still earning) → $746k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Space Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $4.2k (exactly $4,194)
Top 25% $73k (exactly $73,379)
Top 5% $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 78
Announced 62
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 down 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Space Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Simulation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
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 82% positive over 23,956 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $4.2k, 1 in 4 over $73k, 1 in 20 over $4.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Co-op with a different second tag, 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

Space Engineers 2019 · $60M STAR WARS™: Squadrons 2020 · $30M Empyrion - Galactic Survival 2020 · $18M Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion 2012 · $6.1M Void Crew 2024 · $4.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Space Engineers older $19.99 100,533 89% 3.0M $60M (exactly $60,289,640) Keen Software House
STAR WARS™: Squadrons older $39.99 25,086 66% 753k $30M (exactly $30,095,674) MOTIVE
Empyrion - Galactic Survival older $19.99 29,204 78% 876k $18M (exactly $17,513,639) Eleon Game Studios
Sins of a Solar Empire®: Rebellion older $19.99 10,243 93% 307k $6.1M (exactly $6,142,727) Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock En… (Ironclad Games Corporation, Stardock Entertainment)
Void Crew $24.99 6,573 86% 197k $4.9M (exactly $4,927,778) Hutlihut Games
Wildgate $29.99 5,032 77% 151k $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) Moonshot Games
PULSAR: Lost Colony older $19.99 4,409 89% 132k $2.6M (exactly $2,644,077) Leafy Games
SpaceCraft · EA $29.99 2,616 64% 78k $2.4M (exactly $2,353,615) Shiro Games
Mars First Logistics $19.99 3,497 94% 105k $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) Shape Shop
Angels Fall First $17.99 3,835 81% 115k $2.1M (exactly $2,069,749) Strangely Interactive Ltd
Approximately Up $24.99 995 93% 30k $746k (exactly $745,952) Approximately Games
Blossom: The Seed of Life $16.99 1,011 88% 30k $515k (exactly $515,307) Pebbledust Games
Outlive 25 $11.99 204 93% 6.1k $73k (exactly $73,379) Continuum Entertainment
I Fetch Rocks $15.99 110 94% 3.3k $53k (exactly $52,767) SarumXR
Warspace 2 $17.99 83 59% 2.5k $45k (exactly $44,795) Magic Game Art

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