Games › Hero Shooter › Hero Shooter + Online Co-Op
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Hero Shooter?
Hero Shooter + Online Co-Op
Of 20 developers who shipped a paid Online Co-Op Hero Shooter 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.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 51 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 9 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×5.3 the market's $1.3k for a 9 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $53M, ×40007 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 25% | $86k (exactly $86,227) |
| Top 5% | $54M (exactly $53,889,324) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 9 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 43%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hero Shooter
- effort 9 / 10 · low · competitive netcode plus hero balance and content cadence
- Online Co-Op
- effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
What it takes
- Effort
- 9 / 10 · studio only
- Systems
- Hero Shooter, Online Co-Op; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, PvE
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 54,510 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 4 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hero Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + MedievalLong shot
- + SuperheroPoor odds
- + Battle RoyalePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + PlatformerPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + AliensPoor odds
Comparable games
Marathon 2026 · $54M 
Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition 2022 · $41M 
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ 2020 · $14M 
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap 2025 · $3.6M 
Friends vs Friends 2023 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marathon | $39.99 | 44,919 81% | 1.3M | $54M (exactly $53,889,324) | Bungie | |
| | Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2: Deluxe Edition | older | $29.99 | 45,480 90% | 1.4M | $41M (exactly $40,918,356) | PopCap |
| | Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville™ | older | $29.99 | 15,372 71% | 461k | $14M (exactly $13,830,188) | PopCap |
| | Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap | $29.99 | 4,053 69% | 122k | $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) | Robot Entertainment | |
| | Friends vs Friends | older | $9.99 | 10,860 83% | 326k | $3.3M (exactly $3,254,742) | Brainwash Gang |
 | Primal Carnage: Extinction | older | $12.99 | 8,283 84% | 248k | $3.2M (exactly $3,227,885) | Circle Five Studios, Pub Games |
 | Raw Data | older | $39.99 | 2,036 81% | 61k | $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) | Survios |
 | Wild Assault | $14.99 | 3,861 68% | 116k | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,292) | Combat Cat Studio | |
 | Bleeding Edge | older | $29.99 | 1,411 66% | 42k | $1.3M (exactly $1,269,477) | Ninja Theory |
 | Team Fortress Classic | older | $4.99 | 7,053 86% | 212k | $1.1M (exactly $1,055,834) | Valve |
 | Warden's Will | $14.99 | 304 70% | 9.1k | $137k (exactly $136,709) | ELYZIO | |
 | Last Flag | $4.99 | 576 73% | 17k | $86k (exactly $86,227) | Night Street Games | |
 | Iron Core: Mech Survivor | $6.99 | 352 73% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,814) | Soda Game Studio | |
 | KUNKUN Defender 2 | $4.99 | 294 94% | 8.8k | $44k (exactly $44,012) | Seal | |
 | Cowboy 3030 | $14.99 | 96 87% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | Soy Boy Games | |
 | Rocket Squad: Infinity | $14.99 | 31 22% | 930 | $14k (exactly $13,941) | Jackto Studios | |
 | Shatterline | $9.99 | 24 62% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Frag Lab LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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