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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Mining game?
Online Co-Op + Mining
Of 27 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Mining game 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.. 75 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×2.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.4M, ×1630 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 75 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.5k (exactly $3,506) |
| Top 25% | $242k (exactly $241,558) |
| Top 5% | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 75 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Mining
- 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, Mining; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Exploration, Co-op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 22,127 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 4 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 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
ICARUS 2021 · $59M 
Luma Island 2024 · $6.7M 
Lightyear Frontier 2024 · EA · $3.2M 
Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M 
Aground 2020 · $820k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ICARUS | older | $34.99 | 55,849 75% | 1.7M | $59M (exactly $58,624,695) | RocketWerkz |
| | Luma Island | $19.99 | 11,204 84% | 336k | $6.7M (exactly $6,719,039) | Feel Free Games | |
| | Lightyear Frontier | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,257 83% | 128k | $3.2M (exactly $3,191,473) | FRAME BREAK |
| | Occupy Mars: The Game | $29.99 | 2,714 68% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) | ▲ Pyramid Games | |
| | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
 | Ore Factory Squad ⛏️ | $12.99 | 1,646 87% | 49k | $641k (exactly $641,446) | threeW | |
 | Keep Digging | $6.99 | 2,927 79% | 88k | $614k (exactly $613,792) | Wild Dog | |
 | Fuel Harvest Together | $13.99 | 879 69% | 26k | $369k (exactly $368,916) | Say2Sun | |
 | Wild Indigo Ranch | $19.99 | 424 68% | 13k | $254k (exactly $254,273) | Funday Games | |
 | Stonewards | · EA | $9.99 | 806 94% | 24k | $242k (exactly $241,558) | Banana Tiger Studio |
 | Super Mining Mechs | $4.99 | 841 86% | 25k | $126k (exactly $125,898) | Delayed Victory | |
 | Wonderia | · EA | $13.99 | 276 80% | 8.3k | $116k (exactly $115,837) | Rock&Dash |
 | Mining Merchant | $6.99 | 410 88% | 12k | $86k (exactly $85,977) | Delayed Victory |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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