Do I ship it?

GamesOnline Co-OpOnline Co-Op + Destruction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Online Co-Op Destruction game?

Online Co-Op + Destruction

Of 37 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Destruction 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.. 102 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×8.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.7k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.0M, ×4689 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 102 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 102 announced, ×4.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op + Destruction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $173k → $41k → $9.4k → $19k → $42k → $7.8k → $4.3k (still earning) → $20k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op + Destruction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Median $13k (exactly $12,592)
Top 25% $432k (exactly $431,892)
Top 5% $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 98
Announced 102
Effort 8 / 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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Destruction
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, Destruction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Exploration
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 47,820 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.7k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $430k, 1 in 20 over $7.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 5 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 102 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Online Co-Op with a different second tag, 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
Need for Speed™ Heat older $69.99 128,933 84% 3.9M $271M (exactly $270,720,620) Ghost Games
Teardown older $29.99 126,563 95% 3.8M $114M (exactly $113,868,731) Tuxedo Labs
Battlefield 4™ older $39.99 69,373 84% 2.1M $83M (exactly $83,226,788) DICE
Need for Speed™ older $29.99 25,443 69% 763k $23M (exactly $22,891,067) Ghost Games
Battlefield 3™ older $39.99 16,378 71% 491k $20M (exactly $19,648,687) DICE
RoadCraft $39.99 13,527 74% 406k $16M (exactly $16,228,342) Saber Interactive
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS older $29.99 11,401 84% 342k $10M (exactly $10,257,480) Planetary Annihilation Inc
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition $39.99 5,855 86% 176k $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Echo Point Nova $24.99 7,521 96% 226k $5.6M (exactly $5,638,494) Greylock Studio
Everwind · EA $24.99 3,454 81% 104k $2.6M (exactly $2,589,464) Enjoy Studio S.A.
The Headliners $7.99 8,534 86% 256k $2.0M (exactly $2,045,600) KAFI
Funnel Runners · EA $14.99 2,941 83% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,322,568) Supernova Studios LLC
ICBM: Escalation $29.99 1,248 86% 37k $1.1M (exactly $1,122,826) SoftWarWare
Keep Digging $6.99 2,927 79% 88k $614k (exactly $613,792) Wild Dog
Last Train Outta' Wormtown $11.99 1,453 96% 44k $523k (exactly $522,644) Get(Color) Games
Wreckreation $39.99 360 63% 11k $432k (exactly $431,892) Three Fields Entertainment

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