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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Hidden Object?
Online Co-Op + Hidden Object
Of 94 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Hidden Object 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.. 175 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×81 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 175 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) |
| Top 5% | $122k (exactly $121,836) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 94 |
| Released games | 201 |
| Announced | 175 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 85,456 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 175 games are announced against 57 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MECCHA CHAMELEON | $5.99 | 78,746 87% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,150,656) | lemorion_1224 | |
| | Witch It | older | $19.99 | 14,540 89% | 436k | $8.7M (exactly $8,719,638) | Barrel Roll Games |
| | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
| | Boo Men | · EA older | $7.99 | 2,088 88% | 63k | $500k (exactly $500,494) | Twisted Corridor👻 |
| | West Hunt | older | $9.99 | 1,522 84% | 46k | $456k (exactly $456,143) | NewGen |
| | Prehistoric Hunt | · EA older | $17.99 | 678 84% | 20k | $366k (exactly $365,917) | Antiproto Studios |
| | Ghost Janitors | $9.99 | 917 87% | 28k | $275k (exactly $274,825) | Interactive Wave Studio | |
| | How 2 Escape | older | $12.99 | 684 71% | 21k | $267k (exactly $266,555) | Breakfirst Games |
| | Peekaboo | older | $2.99 | 2,780 79% | 83k | $249k (exactly $249,366) | Redaster Studio |
| | Anomaly Exit | older | $5.99 | 1,118 89% | 34k | $201k (exactly $200,905) | ExamlGuy |
| | The Anomaly Project | $7.99 | 531 81% | 16k | $127k (exactly $127,281) | Kekdot | |
| | BodyRecords | · EA | $6.99 | 581 70% | 17k | $122k (exactly $121,836) | MIROWIN |
| | Cleaning Up The Puzzle Gallery | $4.99 | 605 95% | 18k | $91k (exactly $90,568) | Th3GameStudio | |
| | iDigging | $2.99 | 729 69% | 22k | $65k (exactly $65,391) | TWEN | |
| | How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine | $12.99 | 161 83% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | Breakfirst Games | |
| | Megastore: Tidy Up Together | $5.99 | 326 91% | 9.8k | $59k (exactly $58,582) | Yolo Games Studio | |
| | Anomaly Company | $7.99 | 177 77% | 5.3k | $42k (exactly $42,427) | Kekdot |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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