Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Online Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Online Co-Op game?

Online Co-Op

Of 2,004 developers who shipped an 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.. 4,642 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×2.4 the market's $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $3.7M, ×2509 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 4,642 games are announced against 1,324 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 4,642 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Online Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 2,004
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $10k → $22k → $6.0k → $6.2k → $6.9k → $5.6k → $2.7k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Online Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 2,004
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,627)
Top 25% $56k (exactly $56,129)
Top 5% $3.8M (exactly $3,758,996)
Developers, 2 yr 2,004
Released games 5,500
Announced 4,642
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $7.99

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 30% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
Online Co-Op
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,017,307 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $56k, 1 in 20 over $3.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 6 in 10 of the 986 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 4,642 games are announced against 1,324 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Online Co-Op

159 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Online Co-Op + 2D Fighter Poor odds $479 29 devs
  2. Online Co-Op + Shoot 'Em Up Poor odds $449 51 devs
  3. Online Co-Op + Colony Sim Dead $314k 13 devs
  4. Online Co-Op + Visual Novel Dead $4.9k 7 devs
  5. Online Co-Op + 4X Dead $1.0k 5 devs
  6. Online Co-Op + Sniper Dead $600 4 devs
  7. Battle Royale + Online Co-Op Dead $480 32 devs
  8. Online Co-Op + Word Game Dead $479 17 devs
  9. Online Co-Op + Bullet Time Dead $120 3 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ELDEN RING 2022 · $1.5B Rust 2018 · $1.4B Baldur's Gate 3 2023 · $1.4B HELLDIVERS™ 2 2024 · $1.0B DayZ 2018 · $582M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ELDEN RING older $59.99 831,470 93% 25M $1.5B (exactly $1,496,396,559) FromSoftware, Inc.
Rust older $39.99 1,167,920 87% 35M $1.4B (exactly $1,401,153,624) Facepunch Studios
Baldur's Gate 3 older $59.99 755,010 96% 23M $1.4B (exactly $1,358,791,497) Larian Studios
HELLDIVERS™ 2 older $39.99 838,901 76% 25M $1.0B (exactly $1,006,429,530) Arrowhead Game Studios
DayZ older $49.99 387,850 78% 12M $582M (exactly $581,658,645) Bohemia Interactive
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI older $59.99 276,113 86% 8.3M $497M (exactly $496,920,566) Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux))
Forza Horizon 5 older $59.99 260,218 89% 7.8M $468M (exactly $468,314,335) Playground Games
Valheim $29.99 464,893 94% 14M $418M (exactly $418,264,232) Iron Gate AB
Dead by Daylight older $19.99 685,423 78% 21M $411M (exactly $411,048,173) Behaviour Interactive Inc.
Phasmophobia · EA older $19.99 684,009 94% 21M $410M (exactly $410,200,197) Kinetic Games
Palworld $29.99 411,947 94% 12M $371M (exactly $370,628,716) Pocketpair
ARC Raiders $39.99 299,346 82% 9.0M $359M (exactly $359,125,396) Embark Studios
Monster Hunter Wilds $39.99 200,984 52% 6.0M $241M (exactly $241,120,505) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Forza Horizon 6 $69.99 86,730 82% 2.6M $182M (exactly $182,106,981) Playground Games
ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN $39.99 129,476 83% 3.9M $155M (exactly $155,332,357) FromSoftware, Inc.
Path of Exile 2 · EA $29.99 167,730 76% 5.0M $151M (exactly $150,906,681) Grinding Gear Games
SCUM $44.99 98,554 74% 3.0M $133M (exactly $133,018,334) Gamepires
Borderlands 4 $69.99 57,874 59% 1.7M $122M (exactly $121,518,038) Gearbox Software

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