Do I ship it?

Games › Co-op › Co-op + Superhero

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Superhero Co-op game?

Co-op + Superhero

Only 9 developers shipped a Superhero Co-op game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $11k, ×7.0 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 17 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.0 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 17 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Co-op + Superhero
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $11k → $49k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Co-op + Superhero: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $11k (exactly $10,522)
Top 25% $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511)
Top 5% $18M (exactly $18,326,182)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 50
Announced 17
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: too few recent games to read.

Free games: 12%, 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
Superhero
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low 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
Price point
$12.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $19.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 207,259 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $2.0M, 1 in 20 over $18M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 17 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Co-op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Boomer ShooterFair16 devs · median $6.9k · 24 announced
  2. + GamblingFair22 devs · median $4.4k · 32 announced
  3. + NinjaFair13 devs · median $4.2k · 13 announced
  4. + TypingLong shot16 devs · median $810 · 13 announced
  5. + Word GameLong shot23 devs · median $267 · 23 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds58 devs · median $515k · 127 announced
  7. + World War IIPoor odds12 devs · median $372k · 23 announced
  8. + AutomationPoor odds48 devs · median $369k · 110 announced
  9. + TransportationPoor odds17 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  10. + JRPGPoor odds15 devs · median $164k · 19 announced
  11. + Turn-BasedPoor odds12 devs · median $131k · 19 announced
  12. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds25 devs · median $82k · 49 announced

All 230 pairs on the Co-op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Saints Row IV: Re-Elected 2013 · $34M Gotham Knights 2022 · $28M Batman™: Arkham Origins 2013 · $27M LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight 2026 · $18M LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes 2013 · $14M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected older $19.99 57,525 87% 1.7M $34M (exactly $34,497,742) Deep Silver Volition
Gotham Knights older $59.99 15,688 68% 471k $28M (exactly $28,233,694) Warner Bros. Games Montréal, QLOC
Batman™: Arkham Origins older $19.99 45,536 90% 1.4M $27M (exactly $27,307,939) WB Games Montreal, Splash Damage
LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight $69.99 8,728 95% 262k $18M (exactly $18,326,182) TT Games
LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes older $19.99 22,663 95% 680k $14M (exactly $13,591,001) Traveller's Tales
SpeedRunners older $14.99 22,842 94% 685k $10M (exactly $10,272,047) DoubleDutch Games
LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame older $19.99 12,850 89% 386k $7.7M (exactly $7,706,145) Traveller's Tales
LEGO® DC Super-Villains older $39.99 5,798 91% 174k $7.0M (exactly $6,955,861) TT Games, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition older $19.99 9,864 86% 296k $5.9M (exactly $5,915,441) NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Softw… (NetherRealm Studios, High Voltage Software)
Saints Row older $29.99 5,765 61% 173k $5.2M (exactly $5,186,770) Volition
Invincible VS $49.99 3,031 76% 91k $4.5M (exactly $4,545,591) Quarter Up
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion $29.99 2,298 88% 69k $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) Tribute Games Inc.
STARVAULT VR $24.99 66 89% 2.0k $49k (exactly $49,480) Theia Games
QUADRICOLOR: Ultra Sentai Color Ranger $12.99 27 96% 810 $11k (exactly $10,522) Quadri Team
Robbing Time · EA $5.99 18 88% 540 $3.2k (exactly $3,235) Monday Squid
Super Nova $5.99 5 60% 150 $898 (exactly $898) DIG Games
Dual Force $3.99 3 100% 90 $359 (exactly $359) Howling Beast Entertainment
Max's Jungle Odyssey $8.99 1 100% 30 $270 (exactly $270) Fernando Garrido García-Manso

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