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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Immersive Sim?
Immersive Sim + Online Co-Op
Of 179 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Immersive Sim 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.. 315 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 $25k, ×17 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.3M, ×4937 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 315 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) |
|---|---|
| Median | $25k (exactly $25,168) |
| Top 25% | $296k (exactly $296,252) |
| Top 5% | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 179 |
| Released games | 309 |
| Announced | 315 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 25% more developers than 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.
- Immersive Sim
- effort 8 / 10 · low · effort 8 sits in the low band
- Online Co-Op
- effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Immersive Sim, Online Co-Op; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Co-op, Management
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 196,107 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.9k. 4 in 10 of the 94 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 315 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Immersive Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Trading Card GameStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + WesternStrong odds
- + BoxingStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + RomanceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Split ScreenFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Squad | older | $39.99 | 180,505 82% | 5.4M | $217M (exactly $216,551,848) | Offworld |
| | theHunter: Call of the Wild™ | older | $19.99 | 170,472 89% | 5.1M | $102M (exactly $102,232,058) | Expansive Worlds |
| | No Rest for the Wicked | · EA older | $39.99 | 66,102 80% | 2.0M | $79M (exactly $79,302,569) | Moon Studios GmbH |
| | NBA 2K25 | older | $69.99 | 30,969 60% | 929k | $65M (exactly $65,025,609) | Visual Concepts |
| | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
| | The Planet Crafter | older | $23.99 | 68,855 96% | 2.1M | $50M (exactly $49,554,944) | Miju Games |
| | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
| | Farming Simulator 22 | older | $19.99 | 69,477 93% | 2.1M | $42M (exactly $41,665,357) | GIANTS Software |
| | PowerWash Simulator | older | $24.99 | 50,924 96% | 1.5M | $38M (exactly $38,177,723) | FuturLab |
| | Farming Simulator 25 | $29.99 | 39,681 87% | 1.2M | $36M (exactly $35,700,996) | GIANTS Software | |
| | Le Mans Ultimate | $39.99 | 15,068 79% | 452k | $18M (exactly $18,077,080) | Studio 397 | |
| | RoadCraft | $39.99 | 13,527 74% | 406k | $16M (exactly $16,228,342) | Saber Interactive | |
| | WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition | $29.99 | 11,511 97% | 345k | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) | eduweb | |
| | PowerWash Simulator 2 | $24.99 | 10,939 91% | 328k | $8.2M (exactly $8,200,968) | FuturLab | |
| | MISERY | $12.99 | 20,015 85% | 600k | $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) | Platypus Entertainment | |
| | StarRupture | · EA | $19.99 | 12,333 80% | 370k | $7.4M (exactly $7,396,100) | Creepy Jar |
| | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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