Games › Co-op Campaign › Co-op Campaign + PvE
Should I ship a Co-op Campaign PvE game?
Co-op Campaign + PvE
Of 62 developers who shipped a Co-op Campaign PvE game 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.. 204 more are announced, ×6.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×228 the market median. Revenue is up 285% on the market; 204 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,432) |
| Top 5% | $342k (exactly $341,726) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 179 |
| Announced | 204 |
| Effort | 8 / 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 up 285% on the market, supply 15% 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 Campaign
- effort 8 / 10 · low · shared campaign state over the network
- PvE
- effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Co-op Campaign, PvE; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 50,470 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 204 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op Campaign with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Open WorldPoor odds
- + ZombiesPoor odds
- + Psychological HorrorPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + ExplorationPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + Puzzle PlatformerPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Darktide | older | $39.99 | 108,477 72% | 3.3M | $130M (exactly $130,139,857) | Fatshark |
| | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
| | Aliens: Fireteam Elite | older | $29.99 | 21,668 80% | 650k | $19M (exactly $19,494,700) | Cold Iron Studios |
| | Strange Brigade | older | $49.99 | 8,309 84% | 249k | $12M (exactly $12,461,007) | Rebellion |
| | Orcs Must Die! 3 | older | $29.99 | 10,930 85% | 328k | $9.8M (exactly $9,833,721) | Robot Entertainment |
| | RUNNING WITH RIFLES | older | $14.99 | 14,676 87% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Osumia Games |
| | Labyrinthine | older | $9.99 | 13,779 84% | 413k | $4.1M (exactly $4,129,566) | Valko Game Studios |
| | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
| | Aragami 2 | older | $34.99 | 3,472 76% | 104k | $3.6M (exactly $3,644,558) | Lince Works |
| | Warhammer: Chaosbane | older | $29.99 | 3,274 60% | 98k | $2.9M (exactly $2,945,618) | Eko Software |
| | Blood: Refreshed Supply™ | $29.99 | 719 71% | 22k | $647k (exactly $646,884) | Nightdive Studios, Monolith Productions | |
| | Blood Typers | $12.49 | 912 94% | 27k | $342k (exactly $341,726) | Outer Brain Studios | |
| | Zero Caliber 2 Remastered | $24.99 | 433 79% | 13k | $325k (exactly $324,620) | XREAL Games | |
| | Storebound | $7.99 | 1,042 76% | 31k | $250k (exactly $249,767) | Embers | |
| | Expeditions: Samurai | · EA | $29.99 | 267 59% | 8.0k | $240k (exactly $240,220) | Campfire Cabal |
| | La Quimera | · EA | $29.99 | 167 51% | 5.0k | $150k (exactly $150,250) | Reburn |
| | Astroloot | · EA | $6.99 | 587 92% | 18k | $123k (exactly $123,094) | Andreas Hager Gaming |
| | Into Black | $29.99 | 125 87% | 3.8k | $112k (exactly $112,462) | The Binary Mill |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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