Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Puzzle
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Puzzle game?
Online Co-Op + Puzzle
Of 254 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Puzzle 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.. 434 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 $1.9k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×387 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 434 games are announced against 161 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $475 (exactly $475) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $15,740) |
| Top 5% | $580k (exactly $580,314) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 254 |
| Released games | 626 |
| Announced | 434 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 106,811 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 119 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 434 games are announced against 161 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
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Teardown 2022 · $114M 
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga 2022 · $57M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
DEVOUR 2021 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Teardown | older | $29.99 | 126,563 95% | 3.8M | $114M (exactly $113,868,731) | Tuxedo Labs |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | DEVOUR | older | $9.99 | 68,664 90% | 2.1M | $21M (exactly $20,578,601) | Straight Back Games |
 | REANIMAL | $39.99 | 13,809 78% | 414k | $17M (exactly $16,566,657) | Tarsier Studios | |
 | The Escapists 2 | older | $19.99 | 26,452 90% | 794k | $16M (exactly $15,863,264) | Team17, Mouldy Toof Studios |
 | LEGO® Marvel™ Super Heroes | older | $19.99 | 22,663 95% | 680k | $14M (exactly $13,591,001) | Traveller's Tales |
 | Backrooms: Escape Together | · EA older | $9.99 | 42,276 88% | 1.3M | $13M (exactly $12,670,117) | Triiodide Studios |
 | Strange Brigade | older | $49.99 | 8,309 84% | 249k | $12M (exactly $12,461,007) | Rebellion |
 | Little Nightmares III | $39.99 | 10,165 46% | 305k | $12M (exactly $12,194,950) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Liar's Bar | · EA | $6.99 | 48,708 89% | 1.5M | $10M (exactly $10,214,068) | Curve Animation |
 | Ghost Watchers | $14.99 | 12,729 86% | 382k | $5.7M (exactly $5,724,231) | Renderise | |
 | Cat Mail Co. | $14.99 | 6,289 92% | 189k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,163) | Maracas Studio | |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
 | POPUCOM | $19.99 | 3,432 87% | 103k | $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) | Hypergryph | |
 | LEGO® Voyagers | $24.99 | 1,859 88% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,393,692) | Light Brick Studio | |
 | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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