Games › Co-op › Co-op + Western
Should I ship a Western Co-op game?
Co-op + Western
Only 16 developers shipped a Western 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, Far Far West, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×3.0 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $18M, ×12594 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $25,648) |
| Top 5% | $19M (exactly $18,865,363) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 31 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 30% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 32,217 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op with a different setting or mood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | older | $29.99 | 213,023 74% | 6.4M | $192M (exactly $191,656,793) | Crytek |
| | Red Dead Online | older | $19.99 | 59,572 82% | 1.8M | $36M (exactly $35,725,328) | Rockstar Games |
| | Far Far West | · EA | $19.99 | 31,458 95% | 944k | $19M (exactly $18,865,363) | Evil Raptor |
| | Evil West | older | $49.99 | 10,215 74% | 306k | $15M (exactly $15,319,436) | Flying Wild Hog |
| | This Land Is My Land | older | $29.99 | 4,248 68% | 127k | $3.8M (exactly $3,821,926) | Game-Labs |
| | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood | older | $9.99 | 4,393 86% | 132k | $1.3M (exactly $1,316,582) | Techland |
| | Bud Spencer & Terence Hill - Slaps And Beans | older | $14.99 | 1,722 91% | 52k | $774k (exactly $774,383) | Trinity Team |
| | Westerado: Double Barreled | older | $14.99 | 1,400 92% | 42k | $630k (exactly $629,580) | Ostrich Banditos |
| | Bounty of One | older | $6.99 | 2,749 88% | 82k | $576k (exactly $576,465) | OptizOnion |
| | Wild Indigo Ranch | $19.99 | 424 68% | 13k | $254k (exactly $254,273) | Funday Games | |
| | Cowboy 3030 | $14.99 | 96 87% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | Soy Boy Games | |
| | Trail & Error | · EA | $7.99 | 107 70% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,648) | Oberha5li Studios |
| | Altarium | $9.99 | 58 53% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Metavision Studio | |
| | Arcane Wilds | · EA | $17.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $7.0k (exactly $7,016) | Avancadia |
| | Rhyolite | $9.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | Long Lost | |
| | Cordels & Spells | $9.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Supernova Games | |
| | DEMONOLITION | $9.99 | 9 77% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | HEX512 | |
| | Cheminots | $4.99 | 16 87% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Weasel Sailor |
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.