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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Party Game?
Online Co-Op + Party Game
Of 280 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Party 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.. 664 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180. 664 games are announced against 245 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper, while revenue is down 60% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,015) |
| Top 25% | $7.8k (exactly $7,784) |
| Top 5% | $133k (exactly $133,032) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 280 |
| Released games | 434 |
| Announced | 664 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 560% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Party Game
- 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, Party Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, PvP
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, Comedy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 109,155 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 664 games are announced against 245 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
Among Us 2018 · $99M 
Party Animals 2023 · $34M 
Pummel Party 2018 · $21M 
Ultimate Chicken Horse 2016 · $18M 
MECCHA CHAMELEON 2026 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Among Us | older | $4.99 | 659,003 92% | 20M | $99M (exactly $98,652,749) | Innersloth |
| | Party Animals | older | $19.99 | 56,043 81% | 1.7M | $34M (exactly $33,608,987) | Recreate Games |
| | Pummel Party | older | $14.99 | 46,134 88% | 1.4M | $21M (exactly $20,746,460) | Rebuilt Games |
| | Ultimate Chicken Horse | older | $14.99 | 41,060 95% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,464,682) | Clever Endeavour Games |
| | MECCHA CHAMELEON | $5.99 | 78,746 87% | 2.4M | $14M (exactly $14,150,656) | lemorion_1224 | |
 | UNO | older | $9.99 | 42,019 70% | 1.3M | $13M (exactly $12,593,094) | Ubisoft Entertainment |
 | Move or Die | older | $14.99 | 16,479 89% | 494k | $7.4M (exactly $7,410,606) | Xelu, Those Awesome Guys |
 | Tricky Towers | older | $14.99 | 12,390 90% | 372k | $5.6M (exactly $5,571,783) | WeirdBeard |
 | Draw & Guess | older | $4.99 | 31,627 83% | 949k | $4.7M (exactly $4,734,562) | Acureus |
 | Super Bunny Man | older | $14.99 | 10,143 85% | 304k | $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) | Catobyte |
 | Super Battle Golf | $12.99 | 9,325 93% | 280k | $3.6M (exactly $3,633,952) | Brimstone | |
 | Voyagers of Nera | · EA | $29.99 | 2,022 83% | 61k | $1.8M (exactly $1,819,193) | Treehouse Games |
 | LEGO® Party! | $39.99 | 1,112 87% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) | SMG Studio | |
 | Machine Party | $7.99 | 4,199 87% | 126k | $1.0M (exactly $1,006,500) | Mike Klubnika, GDeavid | |
 | Guilty as Sock! | $5.50 | 4,836 89% | 145k | $798k (exactly $797,940) | Demon Max | |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | BOMBANANA! | $7.99 | 2,360 96% | 71k | $566k (exactly $565,692) | Lefto Studio | |
 | The Jackbox Party Pack 11 | $29.99 | 419 93% | 13k | $377k (exactly $376,974) | Jackbox Games, Inc. | |
 | The House Always Wins | $12.99 | 866 85% | 26k | $337k (exactly $337,480) | Toxic Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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