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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Interactive Fiction?
Online Co-Op + Interactive Fiction
Only 12 developers shipped an Online Co-Op Interactive Fiction in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Shift At Midnight, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×6.0 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $3.0M, ×2030 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) |
| Top 25% | $84k (exactly $83,690) |
| Top 5% | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 20 |
| 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 down 75% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 12,229 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
Hobo: Tough Life 2021 · $7.8M 
Shift At Midnight 2026 · $3.0M 
Love Begins With Goodbye 2025 · $467k 
Chained in the Backrooms 2025 · EA · $84k 
Loch Ness 2021 · EA · $44k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hobo: Tough Life | older | $29.99 | 8,679 84% | 260k | $7.8M (exactly $7,808,496) | Perun Creative |
| | Shift At Midnight | $9.99 | 10,147 88% | 304k | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) | Bun Muen | |
| | Love Begins With Goodbye | $15.99 | 973 94% | 29k | $467k (exactly $466,748) | 大王工作室, 框嗒网络 | |
| | Chained in the Backrooms | · EA | $2.99 | 933 68% | 28k | $84k (exactly $83,690) | Task+ Studios |
| | Loch Ness | · EA older | $13.99 | 104 38% | 3.1k | $44k (exactly $43,649) | JFi Games |
 | Antioch: Scarlet Bay | older | $4.99 | 220 78% | 6.6k | $33k (exactly $32,934) | Midnight Mood Studio |
 | Native Hunter | $17.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $31k (exactly $31,303) | A.P.S | |
 | Debris | older | $9.99 | 97 60% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Moonray Studios |
 | Mad Experiments: Escape Room 2 | older | $12.99 | 69 65% | 2.1k | $27k (exactly $26,889) | PlayTogether Studio |
 | French Crime Detective Game | older | $19.99 | 40 92% | 1.2k | $24k (exactly $23,988) | Rakame 7 |
 | TEAM PANIC | $3.99 | 83 62% | 2.5k | $9.9k (exactly $9,935) | Furko | |
 | Fizz Quiz | $14.99 | 20 50% | 600 | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) | Moon | |
 | Midnight Kebab | $4.99 | 8 12% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Ufuk | |
 | The Storyteller | $5.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | Ferrari Dev | |
 | FILENDS | $5.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $180 (exactly $180) | MFI GAMES | |
 | RP2D Virtual Tabletop | · EA | $2.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | Lilibot Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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