Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Puzzle Platformer
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Puzzle Platformer?
Online Co-Op + Puzzle Platformer
Of 106 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Puzzle Platformer 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.. 148 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×244 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 148 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $2,035) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,103) |
| Top 5% | $366k (exactly $365,606) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 106 |
| Released games | 206 |
| Announced | 148 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 110% 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
- Puzzle Platformer
- 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, Puzzle Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Co-op, 3D Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 99,071 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 43 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 148 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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 
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M 
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince 2019 · $11M 
Trine 2: Complete Story 2013 · $9.2M | 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 |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince | older | $29.99 | 11,712 88% | 351k | $11M (exactly $10,537,286) | Frozenbyte |
| | Trine 2: Complete Story | older | $19.99 | 15,273 95% | 458k | $9.2M (exactly $9,159,218) | Frozenbyte |
 | Chained Together | older | $4.99 | 54,747 89% | 1.6M | $8.2M (exactly $8,195,626) | Anegar Games, Lab42 |
 | Trine Enchanted Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,843 95% | 385k | $5.8M (exactly $5,775,497) | Frozenbyte |
 | Farever | · EA | $19.99 | 8,968 75% | 269k | $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) | Shiro Games |
 | Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power | older | $21.99 | 7,301 63% | 219k | $4.8M (exactly $4,816,470) | Frozenbyte |
 | Super Bunny Man | older | $14.99 | 10,143 85% | 304k | $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) | Catobyte |
 | LEGO® Voyagers | $24.99 | 1,859 88% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,393,692) | Light Brick Studio | |
 | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
 | Carry The Glass | $4.99 | 2,839 75% | 85k | $425k (exactly $424,998) | Çağatay Demir, Enes Kaplan | |
 | Biped 2 | $14.99 | 813 71% | 24k | $366k (exactly $365,606) | META Publishing, NEXT Studios, PlayJoy… (META Publishing, NEXT Studios, PlayJoy Studios) | |
 | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt | |
 | BOKURA: planet | $5.49 | 1,459 74% | 44k | $240k (exactly $240,297) | tokoronyori | |
 | Climb The Backrooms | $4.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $152k (exactly $151,646) | LovDEV | |
 | Log Riders | $4.99 | 660 70% | 20k | $99k (exactly $98,802) | Bluespy Studios |
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.