Do I ship it?

Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Online Co-Op game?

Online Co-Op + Mechs

Only 15 developers shipped a Mech 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, SAND: Raiders of Sophie, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 29 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $32k, ×21 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $9.3M, ×6248 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 29 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 21.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 29 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $844k → $1.0M → $126k → $180k → $86k (still earning) → $32k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $32k (exactly $31,907)
Top 25% $180k (exactly $180,260)
Top 5% $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 64
Announced 29
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 50% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
$11.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 61% positive over 20,820 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $32k, 1 in 4 over $180k, 1 in 20 over $9.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 3 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition 2014 · $13M MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries 2021 · $12M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition older $19.99 25,663 90% 770k $15M (exactly $15,390,101) Arrowhead Game Studios
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - Gold Edition older $39.99 11,103 64% 333k $13M (exactly $13,320,269) Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries older $29.99 13,347 84% 400k $12M (exactly $12,008,296) Piranha Games Inc.
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 older $59.99 6,225 69% 187k $11M (exactly $11,203,132) SANDLOT
Iron Harvest older $29.99 11,682 74% 350k $11M (exactly $10,510,295) KING Art
Planetary Annihilation: TITANS older $29.99 11,401 84% 342k $10M (exactly $10,257,480) Planetary Annihilation Inc
Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense older $24.99 12,607 86% 378k $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) AutoAttack Games
SAND: Raiders of Sophie · EA $24.99 12,485 49% 375k $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) Hologryph, TowerHaus
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE older $59.99 4,892 62% 147k $8.8M (exactly $8,804,132) ARTDINK
MechWarrior 5: Clans $29.99 5,565 74% 167k $5.0M (exactly $5,006,830) Piranha Games Inc.
Granvir $14.99 842 90% 25k $379k (exactly $378,647) Airborne Games
BREAK ARTS III $17.99 334 80% 10k $180k (exactly $180,260) MercuryStudio
Super Mining Mechs $4.99 841 86% 25k $126k (exactly $125,898) Delayed Victory
Mining Merchant $6.99 410 88% 12k $86k (exactly $85,977) Delayed Victory
Animalkind · EA $19.99 68 91% 2.0k $41k (exactly $40,780) Uncommon Games
SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL $11.99 93 89% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) GasGod Games, GLUE MAN
Ironsand $7.49 142 68% 4.3k $32k (exactly $31,907) Renderise
Titan Isles $24.99 40 95% 1.2k $30k (exactly $29,988) Psytec Games Ltd

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