2023 Is the Peak Year for Steam's Cooperative Games with High Release and Sales

TapTechNews July 3rd news, according to the latest report from VGInsights, 2023 is the year with the highest release and sales volume of cooperative games (co-op games) on the Steam platform.

The report shows that in 2023, a total of 799 cooperative games were released on the Steam platform, far exceeding (exceeding) 701 in 2022, 650 in 2021, and 647 in 2020. In terms of the overall game release volume, the proportion of cooperative games remains stable, which is 5.7% in 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

It is worth noting that although the COVID-19 pandemic once drove the sales of cooperative games, the report emphasizes that such games have always occupied a considerable share in the overall sales volume of the Steam platform. In 2023, 36% of all games sold on Steam were cooperative games.

The report points out that the trend in 2024 seems to be different. Up to now, nearly half (46%) of Steam games have cooperative elements. Although the hot sales of 'Palworld' and 'Helldivers 2' have boosted the overall data (the two combined account for 75% of the cooperative game sales so far this year), the report also mentions that even in small independent games, cooperative games often show better sales.

The report shows that The average sales volume of cooperative games on the Steam platform is about 40,000 copies, which is 8 times that of non-cooperative games (average sales volume of 5,000 copies).

TapTechNews noticed that the report also pointed out that the sales volume of the bottom 25% of cooperative games is twice that of the non-cooperative games in the same proportion, and the top 25% of cooperative games can all break through 300,000 copies in their life cycle, and there are already 106 cooperative games on the Steam platform with a lifetime sales volume of more than 5 million copies.

According to the report, developers who add cooperative elements to the game can benefit a lot. Players can play with friends, which will help increase the sales volume of the game. At the same time, the wonderful moments generated during the cooperation process are more likely to be shared on social media, increasing the exposure of the game. The report also points out that cooperative games often generate more interaction and fun in live broadcasts, and the playability of such games is often more durable.