Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Metroidvania
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Metroidvania?
Online Co-Op + Metroidvania
Only 12 developers shipped an Online Co-Op Metroidvania 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, Windblown, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $74k, ×50 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $6.7M, ×4537 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
|---|---|
| Median | $74k (exactly $74,200) |
| Top 25% | $1.6M (exactly $1,622,159) |
| Top 5% | $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 15 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Metroidvania
- 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, Metroidvania
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 15,728 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 4 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
Windblown 2024 · EA · $6.8M 
Revenge of the Savage Planet 2025 · $2.6M 
UnEpic 2014 · $2.1M 
Vagante 2018 · $1.9M 
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster 2025 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Windblown | · EA | $24.99 | 9,066 88% | 272k | $6.8M (exactly $6,796,780) | Motion Twin |
| | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
| | UnEpic | older | $12.99 | 5,384 90% | 162k | $2.1M (exactly $2,098,145) | @unepic_fran |
| | Vagante | older | $14.99 | 4,118 90% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,865) | Nuke Nine |
| | System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster | $29.99 | 1,803 87% | 54k | $1.6M (exactly $1,622,159) | Nightdive Studios, Looking Glass Studio… (Nightdive Studios, Looking Glass Studios, Irrational Games) | |
 | Dragon Marked For Death | older | $39.99 | 985 77% | 30k | $1.2M (exactly $1,181,704) | INTI CREATES CO., LTD. |
 | Salt and Sacrifice | older | $19.99 | 1,738 62% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,279) | Devoured Studios, Ska Studios |
 | LOST EPIC | older | $17.99 | 1,055 71% | 32k | $569k (exactly $569,384) | One or Eight, Team EARTHWARS |
 | JUMP KING QUEST | $14.99 | 1,202 88% | 36k | $541k (exactly $540,539) | Nexile | |
 | Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark | $29.99 | 560 65% | 17k | $504k (exactly $503,832) | INTI CREATES CO., LTD. | |
 | Crimson Capes | $14.99 | 165 90% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | Poor Locke | |
 | Q2 HUMANITY | $8.99 | 56 89% | 1.7k | $15k (exactly $15,103) | liica, Inc. | |
 | DREGS | · EA | $7.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) | T-Minus Zero Entertainment |
 | AVTale | $4.99 | 10 60% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | OnePersonDevelopment | |
 | You Alone Can Defeat Evil | · EA | $2.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $449 (exactly $449) | Edward Marchioni, Emily Dawn Gilliland |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.