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Should I ship a Detective Online Co-Op game?
Online Co-Op + Detective
Of 61 developers who shipped a Detective 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.. 86 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×388 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 86 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $19,782) |
| Top 5% | $582k (exactly $581,912) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 134 |
| Announced | 86 |
| 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 150% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
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, Adventure, Investigation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 33,825 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Bullet HeavenStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + TypingFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + City BuilderPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
Demonologist 2023 · $11M 
We Were Here Forever 2022 · $8.8M 
Ghost Watchers 2025 · $5.7M 
Operation: Tango 2021 · $4.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
| | We Were Here Forever | older | $17.99 | 16,256 90% | 488k | $8.8M (exactly $8,773,363) | Total Mayhem Games |
| | Ghost Watchers | $14.99 | 12,729 86% | 382k | $5.7M (exactly $5,724,231) | Renderise | |
| | Operation: Tango | older | $19.99 | 7,167 86% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,298,050) | Clever Plays |
 | Shift At Midnight | $9.99 | 10,147 88% | 304k | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) | Bun Muen | |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Ghost Exorcism INC. | · EA older | $11.99 | 4,256 76% | 128k | $1.5M (exactly $1,530,883) | StudioGoupil |
 | Oh Deer | older | $9.99 | 2,125 84% | 64k | $637k (exactly $636,862) | Cozy Cabin Studios |
 | Equinox: Homecoming | $14.99 | 1,294 80% | 39k | $582k (exactly $581,912) | Blue Scarab Entertainment | |
 | Sinister Night 2 | $9.99 | 1,800 86% | 54k | $539k (exactly $539,460) | Bug Inventors | |
 | The Other Side | · EA | $13.99 | 1,181 93% | 35k | $496k (exactly $495,666) | Vectora Games |
 | Project Unknown | $9.99 | 776 81% | 23k | $233k (exactly $232,567) | PsychoRavens | |
 | Parallel Experiment | $9.99 | 702 84% | 21k | $210k (exactly $210,389) | Eleven Puzzles | |
 | Lost Lullabies: The Orphanage Chronicles | $10.99 | 445 70% | 13k | $147k (exactly $146,716) | Pugsy Studios | |
 | SEVERANCE | · EA | $9.99 | 459 70% | 14k | $138k (exactly $137,562) | Sykes Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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