Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Science
Should I ship a Science Online Co-Op game?
Online Co-Op + Science
Only 6 developers shipped a Science 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, Abiotic Factor, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $14k against a market of $1.5k. 23 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $14,382) |
| Top 25% | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) |
| Top 5% | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 34%, 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
- Science
- 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
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $34.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 123,075 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 23 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 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
ICARUS 2021 · $59M 
Abiotic Factor 2025 · $44M 
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition 2025 · $10M 
Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M 
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game 2024 · $3.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ICARUS | older | $34.99 | 55,849 75% | 1.7M | $59M (exactly $58,624,695) | RocketWerkz |
| | Abiotic Factor | $34.99 | 42,075 95% | 1.3M | $44M (exactly $44,166,128) | Deep Field Games | |
| | WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition | $29.99 | 11,511 97% | 345k | $10M (exactly $10,356,447) | eduweb | |
| | Per Aspera | older | $29.99 | 4,105 76% | 123k | $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) | Tlön Industries |
| | Expeditions: A MudRunner Game | older | $39.99 | 3,000 59% | 90k | $3.6M (exactly $3,599,100) | Saber Interactive |
 | Ghost Exorcism INC. | · EA older | $11.99 | 4,256 76% | 128k | $1.5M (exactly $1,530,883) | StudioGoupil |
 | Main Assembly | older | $19.99 | 1,004 83% | 30k | $602k (exactly $602,099) | Bad Yolk Games |
 | RIPOUT | older | $19.99 | 783 65% | 23k | $470k (exactly $469,565) | Pet Project Games |
 | Interstellar Transport Company | older | $24.99 | 395 65% | 12k | $296k (exactly $296,132) | MT Worlds |
 | Debris | older | $9.99 | 97 60% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Moonray Studios |
 | Last Breath | · EA | $7.99 | 60 81% | 1.8k | $14k (exactly $14,382) | Mx |
 | COLLAPSE COMPANY | · EA | $8.99 | 28 89% | 840 | $7.6k (exactly $7,552) | VOLT-TECKS GAME STUDIO |
 | Mad Cleaners | · EA | $8.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $539 (exactly $539) | Lysm |
 | Powdertron | · EA | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | SalE |
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.