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Should I ship a Train Online Co-Op game?
Online Co-Op + Trains
Only 13 developers shipped a Train 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, Voidtrain, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 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 $56k, ×37 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $8.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.8M, ×5233 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) |
|---|---|
| Median | $56k (exactly $56,129) |
| Top 25% | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) |
| Top 5% | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Trains
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 8 / 10 · online systems, open world
- Systems
- Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 22,047 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $8.1k. 2 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Unrailed! | older | $19.99 | 13,789 93% | 414k | $8.3M (exactly $8,269,263) | Indoor Astronaut |
| | Voidtrain | $29.99 | 8,713 73% | 261k | $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) | HypeTrain Digital | |
| | SimRail - The Railway Simulator | $34.99 | 5,307 85% | 159k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,758) | SimRail S.A. | |
| | Railroads Online | $29.99 | 5,410 75% | 162k | $4.9M (exactly $4,867,377) | Stefan Kelnberger | |
| | NIMBY Rails | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,228 89% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,336,132) | Weird and Wry |
| | Unrailed 2: Back on Track | $19.99 | 1,794 88% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,862) | Indoor Astronaut | |
| | How 2 Escape | older | $12.99 | 684 71% | 21k | $267k (exactly $266,555) | Breakfirst Games |
| | EverRail | · EA | $14.99 | 372 69% | 11k | $167k (exactly $167,288) | Aesir Interactive |
| | Train Valley World | older | $19.99 | 247 69% | 7.4k | $148k (exactly $148,126) | Flazm |
| | Goblin Company | $9.99 | 282 81% | 8.5k | $85k (exactly $84,515) | BitBorne Studio | |
| | Infinite Rails | · EA | $17.99 | 104 88% | 3.1k | $56k (exactly $56,129) | Benjamin Voráč |
| | ExoTrain | · EA | $14.99 | 24 75% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Harpoon Games |
| | Distributrains | $11.99 | 26 100% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Oddwarg | |
| | Metrogether Train Simulator | $17.99 | 15 73% | 450 | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) | camelCase Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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