Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Top-Down Shooter
Should I ship an Online Co-Op Top-Down Shooter?
Online Co-Op + Top-Down Shooter
Of 68 developers who shipped an Online Co-Op Top-Down Shooter 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.. 151 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×198 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 151 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) |
| Top 5% | $296k (exactly $296,352) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 202 |
| Announced | 151 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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
- Top-Down Shooter
- 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, Top-Down Shooter; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, PvE
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 22,468 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 151 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront 2021 · $34M 
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition 2015 · $15M 
RUNNING WITH RIFLES 2015 · $6.6M 
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M 
The Spell Brigade 2026 · $5.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront | older | $34.99 | 32,183 85% | 965k | $34M (exactly $33,782,495) | Barbedwire Studios, Digitalmindsoft |
| | HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition | older | $19.99 | 25,663 90% | 770k | $15M (exactly $15,390,101) | Arrowhead Game Studios |
| | RUNNING WITH RIFLES | older | $14.99 | 14,676 87% | 440k | $6.6M (exactly $6,599,797) | Osumia Games |
| | SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising | older | $19.99 | 10,111 94% | 303k | $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) | Flow Fire Games |
| | The Spell Brigade | $12.99 | 14,731 80% | 442k | $5.7M (exactly $5,740,671) | Bolt Blaster Games | |
 | Police Stories | older | $19.99 | 7,893 85% | 237k | $4.7M (exactly $4,733,432) | HypeTrain Digital |
 | Ship of Fools | older | $21.99 | 5,040 82% | 151k | $3.3M (exactly $3,324,888) | Fika Productions |
 | Killsquad | older | $29.99 | 2,839 71% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,554,248) | Novarama |
 | Nine Parchments | older | $19.99 | 4,123 77% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,472,563) | Frozenbyte |
 | POSTAL Redux | older | $8.99 | 6,745 92% | 202k | $1.8M (exactly $1,819,126) | Running With Scissors |
 | Gatekeeper | $14.99 | 2,706 82% | 81k | $1.2M (exactly $1,216,888) | Gravity Lagoon | |
 | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
 | RIFTSTORM | · EA | $14.99 | 659 70% | 20k | $296k (exactly $296,352) | Confiction Labs, Agate |
 | Phantom Squad | $13.99 | 416 80% | 12k | $175k (exactly $174,595) | Ctrl Freak | |
 | Star Vortex | · EA | $24.99 | 154 84% | 4.6k | $115k (exactly $115,454) | Zorg Games |
 | Keep Her Safe | · EA | $9.99 | 382 97% | 11k | $114k (exactly $114,485) | Gugu Studio |
 | The Horde Wants You Dead | $9.99 | 270 64% | 8.1k | $81k (exactly $80,919) | Bellyflop Games | |
 | Iron Core: Mech Survivor | $6.99 | 352 73% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,814) | Soda Game Studio | |
 | The AC130 slays the zombies. | $3.99 | 377 63% | 11k | $45k (exactly $45,127) | 汪双羽 |
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.