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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Investigation game?
Online Co-Op + Investigation
Of 95 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Investigation 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.. 178 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×1718 the market median. Revenue is up 135% on the market; 178 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,274) |
| Top 5% | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 95 |
| Released games | 209 |
| Announced | 178 |
| Effort | 8 / 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 up 135% on the market, supply 25% 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
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Exploration, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 415,264 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 178 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
Phasmophobia 2020 · EA · $410M 
PEAK 2025 · $72M 
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers 2022 · $23M 
Content Warning 2024 · $17M 
MECCHA CHAMELEON 2026 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phasmophobia | · EA older | $19.99 | 684,009 94% | 21M | $410M (exactly $410,200,197) | Kinetic Games |
| | PEAK | $7.99 | 301,964 94% | 9.1M | $72M (exactly $72,380,771) | Team PEAK | |
| | Police Simulator: Patrol Officers | older | $39.99 | 18,880 75% | 566k | $23M (exactly $22,650,336) | Aesir Interactive |
| | Content Warning | older | $7.99 | 72,444 93% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,364,827) | Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog |
| | MECCHA CHAMELEON | $5.99 | 78,746 87% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,150,656) | lemorion_1224 | |
 | Demonologist | older | $19.99 | 18,886 85% | 567k | $11M (exactly $11,325,934) | Clock Wizard Games |
 | Escape Simulator | older | $19.99 | 16,496 94% | 495k | $9.9M (exactly $9,892,651) | Pine Studio |
 | We Were Here Together | older | $12.99 | 14,481 82% | 434k | $5.6M (exactly $5,643,246) | Total Mayhem Games |
 | Operation: Tango | older | $19.99 | 7,167 86% | 215k | $4.3M (exactly $4,298,050) | Clever Plays |
 | Shift At Midnight | $9.99 | 10,147 88% | 304k | $3.0M (exactly $3,041,056) | Bun Muen | |
 | Species: Unknown | · EA | $9.99 | 9,437 94% | 283k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,269) | WanadevStudio |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | Equinox: Homecoming | $14.99 | 1,294 80% | 39k | $582k (exactly $581,912) | Blue Scarab Entertainment | |
 | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | Ghost Janitors | $9.99 | 917 87% | 28k | $275k (exactly $274,825) | Interactive Wave Studio | |
 | Project Unknown | $9.99 | 776 81% | 23k | $233k (exactly $232,567) | PsychoRavens |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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