Co-op gaming is on the rise, and a new report by VG Insights takes a deep dive into the topic. Here are the key takeaways about the state of this category of games.
Remnant II
- A record 799 co-op games launched on Steam in 2023, up 14% year-over-year. That is also more than double the 383 titles in 2018, according to a VG Insights report.
- Analysts noted that co-op games are “disproportionally popular.” They accounted for just 6% of the 14k titles released on Steam last year, but captured 36% of the total units sold on the platform.
- Co-op games have the median sales of 38k units. For comparison, the median for titles without co-op elements is 5k units. “106 co-op games have sold over 5 million units in their lifetime on Steam,” analysts added.
- Even if we only look at smaller indie titles, “bottom 25% of co-op games still sell twice as well as the bottom 25% of other games.”
- 2024 is expected to be an even bigger year for co-op gaming, largely thanks to the extraordinary success of Helldivers 2 and Palworld. VG Insights estimates Palworld’s life-to-date sales on Steam at 19.1 million, or 47% of all co-op game sales on the platform this year.
- Pocketpair’s hit and Helldivers 2 combined account for 75% of the 40.8 million co-op titles sold in 2024, further evidence of their outsized popularity.
- Other popular co-op releases this year include Gray Zone Warfare (estimated at 1.4 million copies sold) and Content Warning (2.4 million copies, plus over 6 million free downloads).
More data and insights can be found in the full report.