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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Shoot 'Em Up?
Online Co-Op + Shoot 'Em Up
Of 51 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 83 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 $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120. 83 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper, while revenue is down 55% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $83k (exactly $83,217) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 155 |
| Announced | 83 |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, PvE
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 1,950 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 31 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
PAYDAY 3 2023 · $44M 
Raw Data 2017 · $2.4M 
HUNTDOWN 2021 · $2.4M 
Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 2018 · $1.8M 
METAL SLUG 3 2014 · $1.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PAYDAY 3 | older | $29.99 | 49,305 45% | 1.5M | $44M (exactly $44,359,708) | Starbreeze Studios |
| | Raw Data | older | $39.99 | 2,036 81% | 61k | $2.4M (exactly $2,442,589) | Survios |
| | HUNTDOWN | older | $19.99 | 4,059 94% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) | Easy Trigger Games |
| | Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 | older | $12.99 | 4,742 94% | 142k | $1.8M (exactly $1,847,957) | Rogueside, Claeysbrothers |
| | METAL SLUG 3 | older | $7.99 | 6,976 90% | 209k | $1.7M (exactly $1,672,147) | SNK CORPORATION, Dotemu |
 | Apocalypse Party | older | $9.99 | 4,658 72% | 140k | $1.4M (exactly $1,396,003) | Breaker Games |
 | Alien Hominid Invasion | older | $19.99 | 1,572 88% | 47k | $943k (exactly $942,728) | The Behemoth |
 | Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,192 74% | 36k | $715k (exactly $714,842) | Tribute Games Inc. |
 | Renegade Ops | older | $15.00 | 1,005 85% | 30k | $452k (exactly $452,250) | Avalanche Studios |
 | GIBZ | older | $5.99 | 1,321 88% | 40k | $237k (exactly $237,384) | Torrunt |
 | Ultimate Zombie Defense 2 | $9.99 | 589 76% | 18k | $177k (exactly $176,523) | Terror Dog Studio | |
 | Warden's Will | $14.99 | 304 70% | 9.1k | $137k (exactly $136,709) | ELYZIO | |
 | MARVEL MaXimum Collection | $24.99 | 111 76% | 3.3k | $83k (exactly $83,217) | Limited Run Games | |
 | The Horde Wants You Dead | $9.99 | 270 64% | 8.1k | $81k (exactly $80,919) | Bellyflop Games | |
 | Broventure: The Wild Co-op | $4.99 | 398 72% | 12k | $60k (exactly $59,581) | Alice Games | |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games | |
 | Beach Invasion 1915-Gallipoli | $7.99 | 73 71% | 2.2k | $17k (exactly $17,498) | AIx2 Games | |
 | Hatters | · EA | $9.99 | 35 85% | 1.1k | $10k (exactly $10,490) | Moon |
 | Assault On Proxima | $9.99 | 32 81% | 960 | $9.6k (exactly $9,590) | Delta Video Games | |
 | MAGE: Mega Awesome Gregarious Encounters | $9.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | FunRug Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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