Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Pirates
Should I ship a Pirate Online Co-Op game?
Online Co-Op + Pirates
Only 11 developers shipped a Pirate 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, Windrose, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 50 more are announced, ×6.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $77k, ×51 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $14k; 1 in 20 cleared $43M, ×28765 the market median. Revenue is up 133325% on the market; 50 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $14k (exactly $13,640) |
|---|---|
| Median | $77k (exactly $76,944) |
| Top 25% | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) |
| Top 5% | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 50 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 133325% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, 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
- Pirates
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $12.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 64,673 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $14k. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Online Co-Op with a different setting or mood, 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
Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition 2020 · $386M 
Windrose 2026 · EA · $43M 
ATLAS 2018 · EA · $33M 
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 2023 · $21M 
SAND: Raiders of Sophie 2026 · EA · $9.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition | older | $39.99 | 322,072 88% | 9.7M | $386M (exactly $386,389,778) | Rare Ltd |
| | Windrose | · EA | $29.99 | 47,893 86% | 1.4M | $43M (exactly $43,089,332) | Kraken Express |
| | ATLAS | · EA older | $29.99 | 37,119 46% | 1.1M | $33M (exactly $33,395,964) | Grapeshot Games, Instinct Games |
| | ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 | older | $39.99 | 17,281 91% | 518k | $21M (exactly $20,732,016) | Koei Tecmo |
| | SAND: Raiders of Sophie | · EA | $24.99 | 12,485 49% | 375k | $9.4M (exactly $9,360,004) | Hologryph, TowerHaus |
 | Skull and Bones | older | $29.99 | 4,650 65% | 140k | $4.2M (exactly $4,183,605) | Ubisoft Singapore |
 | Blazing Sails | older | $14.99 | 8,361 87% | 251k | $3.8M (exactly $3,759,942) | Get Up Games, Iceberg Interactive |
 | The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu | $29.99 | 3,107 69% | 93k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) | ACE Team | |
 | LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game | older | $19.99 | 3,564 90% | 107k | $2.1M (exactly $2,137,331) | Traveller's Tales |
 | Forgotten Seas | $24.99 | 475 75% | 14k | $356k (exactly $356,108) | Pangea Game Studios | |
 | Last Pirates: Die Together | · EA | $7.99 | 325 76% | 9.8k | $78k (exactly $77,902) | RetroStyle Games |
 | Dig, Dig, Die | $7.99 | 321 64% | 9.6k | $77k (exactly $76,944) | Alice Games | |
 | The Pirate: Republic of Nassau | $19.99 | 25 68% | 750 | $15k (exactly $14,992) | Home Net Games | |
 | hololive GoroGoro Mountain | $12.99 | 35 77% | 1.1k | $14k (exactly $13,640) | BeXide Inc. | |
 | Nightmariners | $4.49 | 5 80% | 150 | $674 (exactly $674) | Ocean's Call Studios | |
 | Blackbeard's Treasure | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | SAT-BOX |
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.