Do I ship it?

GamesOnline Co-OpOnline Co-Op + Crime

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crime Online Co-Op game?

Online Co-Op + Crime

Of 33 developers who shipped a Crime Online Co-Op 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.. 84 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×3.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×1143 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 84 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 84 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op + Crime
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $423k → $220k → $125k → $1.8k → $70k → $3.2k → $6.6k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op + Crime: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $5.0k (exactly $5,034)
Top 25% $70k (exactly $70,153)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 77
Announced 84
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 down 90% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Online Co-Op
effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
Crime
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Online Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 18,811 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 $5.0k, 1 in 4 over $70k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 3 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Bullet HeavenStrong odds27 devs · median $9.3k · 38 announced
  2. + Escape RoomFair31 devs · median $14k · 32 announced
  3. + TypingFair16 devs · median $5.0k · 12 announced
  4. + GamblingFair22 devs · median $4.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Point & ClickFair28 devs · median $1.7k · 34 announced
  6. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds29 devs · median $443k · 70 announced
  7. + TransportationPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  8. + JRPGPoor odds11 devs · median $346k · 16 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds72 devs · median $217k · 139 announced
  10. + World War IIPoor odds10 devs · median $188k · 18 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds20 devs · median $95k · 18 announced

All 211 pairs on the Online Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Watch_Dogs® 2 older $49.99 95,242 82% 2.9M $143M (exactly $142,834,427) Ubisoft
PAYDAY 2 older $9.99 445,531 89% 13M $134M (exactly $133,525,641) OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games)
A Way Out older $29.99 78,174 87% 2.3M $70M (exactly $70,333,148) Hazelight Studios
PAYDAY 3 older $29.99 49,305 45% 1.5M $44M (exactly $44,359,708) Starbreeze Studios
Gotham Knights older $59.99 15,688 68% 471k $28M (exactly $28,233,694) Warner Bros. Games Montréal, QLOC
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers older $39.99 18,880 75% 566k $23M (exactly $22,650,336) Aesir Interactive
Saints Row: The Third older $9.99 48,877 95% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,648,437) Volition
PAYDAY™ The Heist older $9.99 21,870 92% 656k $6.6M (exactly $6,554,439) OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio.
Crime Boss: Rockay City older $19.99 8,553 68% 257k $5.1M (exactly $5,129,234) INGAME STUDIOS
Police Stories older $19.99 7,893 85% 237k $4.7M (exactly $4,733,432) HypeTrain Digital
Crime Simulator $14.99 6,244 82% 187k $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) CookieDev
Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek $7.99 7,141 75% 214k $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) Rayll
The Break-In $19.99 2,040 87% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,223,388) jorgen games Ltd, Oliver Josh
Alpha Response · EA $19.99 788 77% 24k $473k (exactly $472,564) Ultimo Ratio Games
Dirty Business · EA $14.99 906 75% 27k $407k (exactly $407,428) Plan Dirty Games
Parallel Experiment $9.99 702 84% 21k $210k (exactly $210,389) Eleven Puzzles
Midnight Heist $9.99 389 92% 12k $117k (exactly $116,583) MediaTale
Bum: Revenge · EA $9.99 367 62% 11k $110k (exactly $109,990) Patologgia Interactive
Monaco 2 $14.99 156 63% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Pocketwatch Games
Escape From Crimson Manor: Trapped Together $12.99 78 69% 2.3k $30k (exactly $30,397) MediaCity Games

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