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Should I ship an Online Co-Op Trading game?
Online Co-Op + Trading
Of 23 developers who shipped a paid Online Co-Op Trading 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 84 more are announced, ×6.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $47k, ×31 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $6.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×1935 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 84 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) |
|---|---|
| Median | $47k (exactly $46,528) |
| Top 25% | $718k (exactly $717,631) |
| Top 5% | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 up 30% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 45%, 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
- Trading
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op, Trading; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Immersive Sim, Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 45,038 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $6.8k. 4 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.0 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
NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M 
NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M 
Elite Dangerous 2015 · $49M 
Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm 2023 · $31M 
Anno 2070™ 2011 · $6.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NBA 2K25 | older | $69.99 | 30,969 60% | 929k | $65M (exactly $65,025,609) | Visual Concepts |
| | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
| | Elite Dangerous | older | $19.99 | 82,399 76% | 2.5M | $49M (exactly $49,414,680) | Frontier Developments |
| | Ranch Simulator: Build, Hunt, Farm | older | $24.99 | 40,862 79% | 1.2M | $31M (exactly $30,634,241) | Toxic Dog |
| | Anno 2070™ | older | $19.99 | 11,571 59% | 347k | $6.9M (exactly $6,939,129) | Blue Byte, Related Designs |
 | Storage Hunter Simulator | $24.99 | 3,866 78% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,898,340) | Raccoons Studio | |
 | My Garage | $19.99 | 4,010 90% | 120k | $2.4M (exactly $2,404,797) | Viking Game Studio | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Old Market Simulator | $9.99 | 4,333 87% | 130k | $1.3M (exactly $1,298,600) | Alcedo Games | |
 | Bookshop Simulator | $15.99 | 1,496 92% | 45k | $718k (exactly $717,631) | Blep Games | |
 | Tobacco Shop Simulator | $11.99 | 826 89% | 25k | $297k (exactly $297,112) | Business Tycoon | |
 | Parisian Bistro Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 429 93% | 13k | $257k (exactly $257,271) | Quark Studios |
 | GeckoShop | $9.99 | 342 66% | 10k | $102k (exactly $102,497) | Reptoid | |
 | Monopoly: Star Wars™ Heroes vs. Villains | $29.99 | 94 39% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | Behaviour Interactive Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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