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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Driving game?
Online Co-Op + Driving
Of 82 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Driving 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.. 157 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $48k, ×32 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $16M, ×10833 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 157 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
|---|---|
| Median | $48k (exactly $47,652) |
| Top 25% | $797k (exactly $797,134) |
| Top 5% | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 82 |
| Released games | 162 |
| Announced | 157 |
| 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 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Driving
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle handling feel is tuned by hand
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Driving; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Co-op, Automobile Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $34.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Realistic, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 258,423 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 4 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Forza Horizon 5 | older | $59.99 | 260,218 89% | 7.8M | $468M (exactly $468,314,335) | Playground Games |
| | Need for Speed™ Heat | older | $69.99 | 128,933 84% | 3.9M | $271M (exactly $270,720,620) | Ghost Games |
| | Forza Horizon 6 | $69.99 | 86,730 82% | 2.6M | $182M (exactly $182,106,981) | Playground Games | |
| | Teardown | older | $29.99 | 126,563 95% | 3.8M | $114M (exactly $113,868,731) | Tuxedo Labs |
| | Need for Speed™ Unbound | older | $69.99 | 49,862 61% | 1.5M | $105M (exactly $104,695,241) | Criterion Games |
| | The Crew™ 2 | older | $29.99 | 86,533 78% | 2.6M | $78M (exactly $77,853,740) | Ivory Tower |
| | The Crew Motorfest | older | $69.99 | 24,230 78% | 727k | $51M (exactly $50,875,731) | Ubisoft Ivory Tower |
| | Assetto Corsa Competizione | older | $39.99 | 33,807 92% | 1.0M | $41M (exactly $40,558,258) | Kunos Simulazioni |
| | F1® 25 | $49.99 | 25,395 87% | 762k | $38M (exactly $38,084,882) | Codemasters | |
| | Farming Simulator 19 | older | $17.99 | 64,621 94% | 1.9M | $35M (exactly $34,875,954) | GIANTS Software |
| | Le Mans Ultimate | $39.99 | 15,068 79% | 452k | $18M (exactly $18,077,080) | Studio 397 | |
| | RV There Yet? | $7.99 | 72,732 90% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,433,860) | Nuggets Entertainment | |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | Drive Beyond Horizons | · EA | $24.99 | 17,903 77% | 537k | $13M (exactly $13,421,879) | Drive Beyond Horizons |
| | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
| | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
| | Railroads Online | $29.99 | 5,410 75% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,867,377) | Stefan Kelnberger | |
| | Storage Hunter Simulator | $24.99 | 3,866 78% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) | Raccoons Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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