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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Mystery Dungeon?
Online Co-Op + Mystery Dungeon
Of 28 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Mystery Dungeon 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.. 46 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×237 the market median. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 46 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,436) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $32,733) |
| Top 5% | $354k (exactly $354,423) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 46 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 220% on the market, supply 35% 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
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Mystery Dungeon; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Co-op
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 4,851 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
Hammerwatch II 2023 · $1.4M 
Goblin Cleanup 2025 · EA · $969k 
Vivid World 2025 · $354k 
The Backrooms: Survival 2023 · $264k 
PIT OF GOBLIN 2024 · EA · $164k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hammerwatch II | older | $24.99 | 1,871 60% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,402,689) | Crackshell |
| | Goblin Cleanup | · EA | $19.99 | 1,615 87% | 48k | $969k (exactly $968,515) | Crisalu Games |
| | Vivid World | $19.99 | 591 88% | 18k | $354k (exactly $354,423) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd | |
| | The Backrooms: Survival | older | $9.99 | 881 82% | 26k | $264k (exactly $264,036) | RE:CODE |
| | PIT OF GOBLIN | · EA | $5.99 | 915 84% | 27k | $164k (exactly $164,426) | Friendly Foe |
 | Meowgic | $7.99 | 462 79% | 14k | $111k (exactly $110,741) | Lazy Turtle Games | |
 | Chained in the Backrooms | · EA | $2.99 | 933 68% | 28k | $84k (exactly $83,690) | Task+ Studios |
 | Spirit Animal Survival | $19.99 | 96 62% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | TRUEFX GAMES | |
 | Somewhere in the Shadow | older | $2.99 | 579 80% | 17k | $52k (exactly $51,936) | Aydy, Nikolay Kulesh |
 | SAVE | · EA | $11.99 | 91 48% | 2.7k | $33k (exactly $32,733) | Influsion Inc. |
 | The Maze Survivor: The 9th Entrants | $8.99 | 62 82% | 1.9k | $17k (exactly $16,721) | 崔资坦独立游戏Triztan IndieGame | |
 | They See Us | $3.99 | 60 85% | 1.8k | $7.2k (exactly $7,182) | MalumGames | |
 | Twilight Moonflower | $6.99 | 26 80% | 780 | $5.5k (exactly $5,452) | ConnectedShadowGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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