Do I ship it?

Games › Online Co-Op › Online Co-Op + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Online Co-Op game?

Online Co-Op + Underground

Of 23 developers who shipped an Underground Online Co-Op 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.. 49 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×1.8 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $810; 1 in 20 cleared $400k, ×272 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 49 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 49 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.3k → $2.8k → $2.4k (still earning) → $34k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $807 (exactly $807)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,753)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,365)
Top 5% $407k (exactly $407,428)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 34
Announced 49
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 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Online Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 4,846 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $810, median $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $400k.

3 in 10 developers made under $810. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Online Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Bullet HeavenStrong odds27 devs · median $9.3k · 38 announced
  2. + Escape RoomFair31 devs · median $14k · 32 announced
  3. + TypingFair16 devs · median $5.0k · 12 announced
  4. + GamblingFair22 devs · median $4.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Point & ClickFair28 devs · median $1.7k · 34 announced
  6. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds29 devs · median $443k · 70 announced
  7. + TransportationPoor odds14 devs · median $369k · 25 announced
  8. + JRPGPoor odds11 devs · median $346k · 16 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds72 devs · median $217k · 139 announced
  10. + World War IIPoor odds10 devs · median $188k · 18 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds20 devs · median $95k · 18 announced

All 211 pairs on the Online Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Watch Dogs®: Legion 2023 · $21M Last Train Outta' Wormtown 2025 · $523k Dirty Business 2026 · EA · $407k Mining Mechs 2023 · $231k Super Mining Mechs 2024 · $126k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Watch Dogs®: Legion older $59.99 11,891 56% 357k $21M (exactly $21,400,233) Ubisoft Toronto
Last Train Outta' Wormtown $11.99 1,453 96% 44k $523k (exactly $522,644) Get(Color) Games
Dirty Business · EA $14.99 906 75% 27k $407k (exactly $407,428) Plan Dirty Games
Mining Mechs older $2.99 2,577 89% 77k $231k (exactly $231,157) Delayed Victory
Super Mining Mechs $4.99 841 86% 25k $126k (exactly $125,898) Delayed Victory
Mining Merchant $6.99 410 88% 12k $86k (exactly $85,977) Delayed Victory
iDigging $2.99 729 69% 22k $65k (exactly $65,391) TWEN
THE CANON OF BALLS $3.99 287 98% 8.6k $34k (exactly $34,354) Helios Monk
IT Simulator older $4.99 141 90% 4.2k $21k (exactly $21,108) Bad Byte Games
Stretcher Together $4.99 116 47% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) Goosix Games
WHITE CHOCOLATE $3.99 78 94% 2.3k $9.3k (exactly $9,337) Bakery of Games
Elsewhere Electric $24.99 11 27% 330 $8.2k (exactly $8,247) Games by Stitch
Metrogether Train Simulator $17.99 15 73% 450 $8.1k (exactly $8,095) camelCase Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.