Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Life Sim
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Life Sim?
Online Co-Op + Life Sim
Of 114 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Life 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.. 198 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $27k, ×18 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.5M, ×3719 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 198 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) |
|---|---|
| Median | $27k (exactly $26,846) |
| Top 25% | $251k (exactly $250,967) |
| Top 5% | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 114 |
| Released games | 183 |
| Announced | 198 |
| 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 40% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Co-op, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Relaxing, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 114,499 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.5k. 4 in 10 of the 57 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 198 games are announced against 70 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Wobbly Life 2025 · $25M 
Bellwright 2024 · EA · $18M 
Dinkum 2025 · $15M 
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M 
Luma Island 2024 · $6.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Wobbly Life | $24.99 | 33,034 97% | 991k | $25M (exactly $24,765,590) | RubberBandGames | |
| | Bellwright | · EA older | $29.99 | 20,130 80% | 604k | $18M (exactly $18,110,961) | Donkey Crew |
| | Dinkum | $19.99 | 24,641 92% | 739k | $15M (exactly $14,777,208) | James Bendon | |
| | WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition | $29.99 | 11,511 97% | 345k | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) | eduweb | |
| | Luma Island | $19.99 | 11,204 84% | 336k | $6.7M (exactly $6,719,039) | Feel Free Games | |
 | Sengoku Dynasty | $29.99 | 6,592 74% | 198k | $5.9M (exactly $5,930,822) | Superkami | |
 | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
 | Ultimate Fishing Simulator® | older | $19.99 | 8,256 89% | 248k | $5.0M (exactly $4,951,123) | Ultimate Games S.A., Bit Golem |
 | Monster Prom | older | $11.99 | 12,245 93% | 367k | $4.4M (exactly $4,404,526) | Beautiful Glitch |
 | Roots of Pacha | older | $24.99 | 3,779 93% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,833,116) | Soda Den |
 | Cat Mail Co. | $14.99 | 6,289 92% | 189k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,163) | Maracas Studio | |
 | Crime Simulator | $14.99 | 6,244 82% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,807,927) | CookieDev | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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