Do I ship it?

GamesLooter ShooterLooter Shooter + Online Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Online Co-Op Looter Shooter?

Looter Shooter + Online Co-Op

Of 54 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Looter Shooter 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.. 136 more are announced, ×4.0 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 $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $25M, ×17296 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 136 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 16.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 136 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Looter Shooter + Online Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 54
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $227k → $148k → $13k → $1.5k → $379k → $6.6k (still earning) → $32k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Looter Shooter + Online Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 54
Bottom 30% $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Median $25k (exactly $25,179)
Top 25% $622k (exactly $622,198)
Top 5% $26M (exactly $25,909,632)
Developers, 2 yr 54
Released games 146
Announced 136
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $9.99

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 80% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Looter Shooter
effort 8 / 10 · low · online co-op and a loot economy on top of a shooter
Online Co-Op
effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Looter Shooter, Online Co-Op; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, FPS
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 63% positive over 205,144 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.8k, median $25k, 1 in 4 over $620k, 1 in 20 over $25M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 5 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 136 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Looter Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + MechsFair13 devs · median $219k · 14 announced
  2. + Vehicular CombatFair11 devs · median $15k · 14 announced
  3. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  4. + 3D PlatformerLong shot23 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds31 devs · median $71k · 73 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds56 devs · median $25k · 124 announced
  7. + Twin Stick ShooterPoor odds18 devs · median $16k · 44 announced
  8. + DystopianPoor odds14 devs · median $10k · 45 announced
  9. + Base BuildingPoor odds36 devs · median $9.1k · 74 announced
  10. + Character CustomizationPoor odds50 devs · median $9.0k · 151 announced
  11. + Inventory ManagementPoor odds27 devs · median $6.9k · 61 announced
  12. + RobotsPoor odds23 devs · median $6.0k · 32 announced

All 90 pairs on the Looter Shooter page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Borderlands 3 older $59.99 127,847 81% 3.8M $230M (exactly $230,086,246) Gearbox Software
Risk of Rain 2 older $24.99 240,001 93% 7.2M $180M (exactly $179,928,750) Hopoo Games
PAYDAY 2 older $9.99 445,531 89% 13M $134M (exactly $133,525,641) OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetr… (OVERKILL - a Starbreeze Studio., Sidetrack Games)
Borderlands 2 older $19.99 210,364 89% 6.3M $126M (exactly $126,155,291) Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (L… (Gearbox Software, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software
Escape from Tarkov $49.99 55,824 49% 1.7M $84M (exactly $83,719,253) Battlestate Games
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Breakpoint older $59.99 44,635 72% 1.3M $80M (exactly $80,329,610) Ubisoft Paris
REMNANT II® older $49.99 46,219 82% 1.4M $69M (exactly $69,314,634) Gunfire Games
Tom Clancy’s The Division™ older $29.99 76,985 72% 2.3M $69M (exactly $69,263,404) Massive Entertainment
Gunfire Reborn older $19.99 88,536 93% 2.7M $53M (exactly $53,095,039) Gunfire Reborn Studio
Deadside $24.99 34,560 76% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,909,632) Bad Pixel
No More Room in Hell 2 $29.99 16,725 62% 502k $15M (exactly $15,047,482) Torn Banner Studios
Deadzone: Rogue $24.99 15,041 82% 451k $11M (exactly $11,276,238) Prophecy Games
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando $39.99 6,274 72% 188k $7.5M (exactly $7,526,918) Saber Interactive
Wildgate $29.99 5,032 77% 151k $4.5M (exactly $4,527,290) Moonshot Games
Abyssus $24.99 5,014 84% 150k $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) DoubleMoose Games
Survive the Nights $19.99 4,719 68% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) a2z Interactive
Mycopunk · EA $14.99 4,081 88% 122k $1.8M (exactly $1,835,226) Pigeons at Play

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.