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Should I ship an Underwater Online Co-Op game?
Online Co-Op + Underwater
Of 21 developers who shipped an Underwater 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.. 37 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 8 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $33k, ×22 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.7M, ×2509 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) |
|---|---|
| Median | $33k (exactly $33,452) |
| Top 25% | $296k (exactly $296,403) |
| Top 5% | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 8 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Underwater
- 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; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Character Customization
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 54% positive over 215,775 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.4k. 4 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Monster Hunter Wilds 2025 · $241M 
Raft 2022 · $194M 
Depth 2014 · $14M 
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated 2020 · $13M 
Abyssus 2025 · $3.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Monster Hunter Wilds | $39.99 | 200,984 52% | 6.0M | $241M (exactly $241,120,505) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | Raft | older | $19.99 | 323,481 93% | 9.7M | $194M (exactly $193,991,556) | Redbeet Interactive |
| | Depth | older | $19.99 | 23,590 89% | 708k | $14M (exactly $14,146,923) | Ammobox Studios |
| | SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated | older | $29.99 | 14,439 94% | 433k | $13M (exactly $12,990,768) | Purple Lamp |
| | Abyssus | $24.99 | 5,014 84% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996) | DoubleMoose Games | |
 | We Need To Go Deeper | older | $15.99 | 4,652 86% | 140k | $2.2M (exactly $2,231,564) | Deli Interactive LLC |
 | Wolfpack | · EA older | $34.99 | 1,862 88% | 56k | $2.0M (exactly $1,954,541) | Usurpator AB |
 | Voyagers of Nera | · EA | $29.99 | 2,022 83% | 61k | $1.8M (exactly $1,819,193) | Treehouse Games |
 | Project Castaway | $19.99 | 1,815 64% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,088,456) | Mardonpol Inc. | |
 | Murky Divers | $8.99 | 3,981 87% | 119k | $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) | Embers | |
 | Darkwater | $9.99 | 989 77% | 30k | $296k (exactly $296,403) | Targon Studios | |
 | Deep Blue Sushi | · EA | $14.99 | 212 75% | 6.4k | $95k (exactly $95,336) | PaperPixel Games |
 | Subterror | $7.99 | 397 90% | 12k | $95k (exactly $95,161) | Team Monumental | |
 | Away From Life | · EA | $12.99 | 213 66% | 6.4k | $83k (exactly $83,006) | Cursor Games |
 | NAMAKORIUM (ナマコリウム) | $11.99 | 148 93% | 4.4k | $53k (exactly $53,236) | Polyscape Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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