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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Escape Room game?
Online Co-Op + Escape Room
Of 31 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Escape Room 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.. 32 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $14k, ×9.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $4.8k. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 32 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.8k (exactly $4,798) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $14,086) |
| Top 25% | $131k (exactly $130,876) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 81 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 as many developers as 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.
- Online Co-Op
- effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
- Escape Room
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Escape Room; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 151,377 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.8k. 6 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Bullet HeavenStrong odds
- + 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
- + SuperheroPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Escape the Backrooms | $9.99 | 137,315 90% | 4.1M | $41M (exactly $41,153,306) | Fancy Games, Blackbird Interactive | |
| | Escape Simulator | older | $19.99 | 16,496 94% | 495k | $9.9M (exactly $9,892,651) | Pine Studio |
| | We Were Here Forever | older | $17.99 | 16,256 90% | 488k | $8.8M (exactly $8,773,363) | Total Mayhem Games |
| | We Were Here Together | older | $12.99 | 14,481 82% | 434k | $5.6M (exactly $5,643,246) | Total Mayhem Games |
| | We Were Here Too | older | $9.99 | 9,005 78% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,698,798) | Total Mayhem Games |
| | The Past Within | older | $5.99 | 14,673 94% | 440k | $2.6M (exactly $2,636,738) | Rusty Lake |
| | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
| | Tick Tock: A Tale for Two | older | $5.99 | 10,006 85% | 300k | $1.8M (exactly $1,798,078) | Other Tales Interactive |
| | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
| | Escape Academy | older | $19.99 | 1,105 86% | 33k | $663k (exactly $662,668) | Coin Crew Games |
| | In Sink: A Co-op Escape Adventure | $14.99 | 1,432 86% | 43k | $644k (exactly $643,970) | Clock Out Games | |
| | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
| | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
| | Parallel Experiment | $9.99 | 702 84% | 21k | $210k (exactly $210,389) | Eleven Puzzles | |
| | Backrooms Media | $7.99 | 546 39% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,876) | NPK Games | |
| | We Escaped a Twisted Game | $4.99 | 792 94% | 24k | $119k (exactly $118,562) | Deluded Games | |
| | How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine | $12.99 | 161 83% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | Breakfirst Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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