Do I ship it?

GamesOnline Co-OpOnline Co-Op + Lovecraftian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Lovecraftian Online Co-Op game?

Online Co-Op + Lovecraftian

Only 16 developers shipped a Lovecraftian Online Co-Op game 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, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 48 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $29k, ×19 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×1866 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 48 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 19.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 55% on the market, 48 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op + Lovecraftian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.1M → $4.8k → $35k → $29k → $28k (still earning) → $33k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op + Lovecraftian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Median $29k (exactly $28,932)
Top 25% $71k (exactly $71,029)
Top 5% $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 39
Announced 48
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 up 55% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Online Co-Op
effort 8 / 10 · low · netcode, lobbies and state sync across machines
Lovecraftian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Online Co-Op
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 6,606 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.5k, median $29k, 1 in 4 over $71k, 1 in 20 over $2.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.5k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Online Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Bullet HeavenStrong odds27 devs · median $9.3k · 38 announced
  2. + Escape RoomFair31 devs · median $14k · 32 announced
  3. + TypingFair16 devs · median $5.0k · 12 announced
  4. + GamblingFair22 devs · median $4.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Point & ClickFair28 devs · median $1.7k · 34 announced
  6. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds29 devs · median $443k · 70 announced
  7. + TransportationPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  8. + JRPGPoor odds11 devs · median $346k · 16 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds72 devs · median $217k · 139 announced
  10. + World War IIPoor odds10 devs · median $188k · 18 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds20 devs · median $95k · 18 announced

All 211 pairs on the Online Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Remnant: From the Ashes older $39.99 47,193 84% 1.4M $57M (exactly $56,617,442) Gunfire Games
Returnal™ older $59.99 6,602 79% 198k $12M (exactly $11,881,619) Housemarque, Climax Studios
Demonologist older $19.99 18,886 85% 567k $11M (exactly $11,325,934) Clock Wizard Games
Labyrinthine older $9.99 13,779 84% 413k $4.1M (exactly $4,129,566) Valko Game Studios
The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu $29.99 3,107 69% 93k $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) ACE Team
We Need To Go Deeper older $15.99 4,652 86% 140k $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) Deli Interactive LLC
Fade to Silence older $29.99 1,032 62% 31k $928k (exactly $928,490) Black Forest Games
Whisper Mountain Outbreak · EA $7.99 2,421 84% 73k $580k (exactly $580,314) Toge Productions
Perennial Order older $19.99 687 93% 21k $412k (exactly $411,994) Gardenfiend Games
Sign of Silence older $4.99 1,787 52% 54k $268k (exactly $267,514) Renderise
RailGods of Hysterra · EA $19.99 290 51% 8.7k $174k (exactly $173,913) Troglobytes Games
We Gotta Go $9.99 237 60% 7.1k $71k (exactly $71,029) FuzzyBot
Exorcist Simulator $9.99 116 66% 3.5k $35k (exactly $34,765) D.M.G.V
SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL $11.99 93 89% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) GasGod Games, GLUE MAN
SAVE · EA $11.99 91 48% 2.7k $33k (exactly $32,733) Influsion Inc.
Pizza Deathlivery $5.99 161 72% 4.8k $29k (exactly $28,932) Kusa Games
Nullpoint Protocol $14.99 62 61% 1.9k $28k (exactly $27,881) Everbloom Games
Ritual Party · EA $11.99 28 89% 840 $10k (exactly $10,072) Hologram Monster

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