The Daily Populous Friday March 21st, 2025 day edition
Authored by midiaresearch.com and submitted by EmbarrassedSession58

Split Fiction, the co-op-only adventure game from Hazelight Studios, has sold over 2 million copies in one week, generating revenues of over $100 million. This is no small feat, as each copy of the game comes with a friend pass, allowing anybody who bought the game to let a friend play for free (online).

Essentially, over 4 million people have played this game. Our friends at Alinea Analytics show that the number is only climbing – especially on Steam.

Split Fiction‘s success is no surprise for anybody paying attention to our research.

20% of gamers count couch co-op as a favourite genre, but that share grows for younger gamers

In late 2024, we published research showing that 20% of gamers class couch co-op as a favourite genre. For console gamers, that goes up to 27%. There is a clear demand for this type of game, and Split Fiction only proves this.

The genre also provides opportunities to reach younger games. This is important, as the fear that younger players are less interested in non-live-service content is common among publishers we have spoken to.

Our data shows that 28% of 16-19-year-olds class couch co-op as a favourite genre. That is the highest of any age group we cover:

Clearly, younger gamers are not only interested in live service games.

As gamers get older, life commitments make it trickier to play live-service games regularly. Coordinating sessions with friends becomes more challenging, while family time becomes more important.

Yet, our research on why consumers play games shows that many of these consumers still want to play despite their busier lifestyles. Couch co-op could be key here.

One of the game’s industry’s biggest challenges is that publishers often cater to the same gamers and expect the pie to grow.

More couch co-op games = catering to more underserved gamers, like older gamers, women, couples, and roommates

Another thing we discovered in the qualitative aspect of our gamer segmentation report was that couch co-op appeals to many different demographics and households.

Couch co-op resonates with a variety of gamer segments and households, from families with kids to university students and – as you can see in the chart a few paragraphs up – gamers aged over 55. Older players account for over a quarter of gamers, and that share has been growing.

Another relatively underserved gamer demographic is women, despite some improvements here over the past two decades. Still, our research shows that women accounted for around 41% of monthly PC / console gamers at the end of 2024.

No matter how you look at it, the level at which women are catered to in the industry does not reflect that 41%. Couch co-op could again be the key here, as women are even more likely than men to count couch co-op as a favourite genre across all under-44 age groups:

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After the success of It Takes Two and now Split Fiction, the question remains: where are all the other couch co-op games?

Couch co-op games could be a gateway for publishers to reach new audiences. Riot Games has been making waves in the transmedia space, attracting non-gamers to its IP. But the first time user experience for its core product is far from ideal for casual gamers. As per one of our qualitative interviews:

First impressions matter. A more accessible couch co-op game – more on that later – using the League of Legends IP and characters would be a far softer landing into Riot’s gaming universe. Nintendo, with its Mario movie and pathway into more frictionless games like Mario Kart, has this strategy nailed down.

Couch co-op can help games reclaim consumer time from other entertainment segments

The attention economy is oversaturated. Games are not only competing with other games, they are competing with social media, TV, movies, and YouTube.

This is crucial as even console and PC gamers spend more time watching TV and movies than playing games:

Even in gaming households, evening entertainment time often becomes a negotiation, particularly for couples or housemates. Usually, watching services like Netflix wins out.

Of course, companion devices like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck have created an “alone together” scenario where one person in a household watches a show / passively scrolls social media while the other games.

Couch co-op games transform gaming from a solitary pursuit into a communal experience, ensuring everyone on the sofa is equally involved. Games that prioritise collaboration, competition, or shared storytelling offer a compelling alternative to mindless scrolling or binge-watching.

For pairs or groups, this creates an incentive to choose interactive entertainment over passive consumption, carving out in area that other entertainment segments dominate.

Couch co-op can help the games market carve out more engagement – and therefore – revenues. So, the question still remains: where are all the couch co-op titles?

For example, Nintendo’s family-friendly Mario franchise begs for a deeper couch-co-op friendly platformer, beyond the additive co-op in games like Super Mario 3D World.

It seems like low-hanging fruit. But is it as easy as that?

The unique challenges of making a couch-co-op game

It is far from easy to make a good couch co-op game, as the genre comes with its own set of unique challenges in terms of game design and technical challenges for developers:

Performance and optimisation : Split-screen gameplay demands double rendering, so efficient resource management is vital. Rendering two sets of characters and detailed environments on one screen is taxing on hardware, which is likely why we have not seen a Mario couch co-op-only title on the performance-strained Switch (although the Switch 2 might change that)

: Split-screen gameplay demands double rendering, so efficient resource management is vital. Rendering two sets of characters and detailed environments on one screen is taxing on hardware, which is likely why we have not seen a couch co-op-only title on the performance-strained Switch (although the Switch 2 might change that) Cooperative balancing : The gameplay in good couch co-op games incentivises teamwork without overly punishing individual players. Puzzles or obstacles require distinct roles, ensuring neither player feels redundant. For example, Split Fiction uses asymmetrical abilities, forcing players to rely on each other’s unique

: The gameplay in good couch co-op games incentivises teamwork without overly punishing individual players. Puzzles or obstacles require distinct roles, ensuring neither player feels redundant. For example, uses asymmetrical abilities, forcing players to rely on each other’s unique Screen space management : Two players are looking at the same screen, so dynamic camera systems need to work around this. Techniques include elastic camera boundaries, strategic level design to keep players close, and context-sensitive split-screen transitions. Split Fiction uses clever environmental puzzles that naturally keep players collaborating within a shared frame one moment, then seamlessly switching to nudging players down separate paths

: Two players are looking at the same screen, so dynamic camera systems need to work around this. Techniques include elastic camera boundaries, strategic level design to keep players close, and context-sensitive split-screen transitions. uses clever environmental puzzles that naturally keep players collaborating within a shared frame one moment, then seamlessly switching to nudging players down separate paths Player communication and collaboration : Couch co-op thrives on verbal interaction, so design should encourage dialogue. This might involve synchronised actions, such as simultaneous button presses, or environmental cues that prompt discussion. However, overly complex coordination can – again – lead to frustration and friction.

: Couch co-op thrives on verbal interaction, so design should encourage dialogue. This might involve synchronised actions, such as simultaneous button presses, or environmental cues that prompt discussion. However, overly complex coordination can – again – lead to frustration and friction. Balancing difficulty for different skill levels: Tasks should be challenging enough to demand cooperation but intuitive enough to avoid frustration if each of the players has a different skill level. One area that Split Fiction could improve on is accessibility – for players who are disabled and those with differing skill levels. While there are some accessibility options, they do not go far enough. Many reviews of the game say that Split Fiction demands too much controller dexterity for even moderate gamers

Split Fiction’s success was not overnight. It has been earned, following two other well-received couch co-op games from Josef Fares and his teams. However, there is certainly room for other developers to get involved. And it seems as though they will.

Finally, Split Fiction shows how leaner, shorter games can be successful in today’s mature games market. There is no more double-digit growth in gaming, so leaner teams making shorter games with smaller development budgets are a necessity for the sustainability of the games industry.

Hazelight made Split Fiction with a team of 80 people (per GamesBeat), and the story takes around 12-15 hours to finish.

Other games with smaller teams and more sustainable budgets include Astro Bot, 2024’s game of the year at the Game Awards, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, one of the best-reviewed games of 2025 so far.

Smaller, leaner games – leveraging premium and couch co-op – are key opportunities in today’s games market.

After all, live-service games are a zero-sum game with fewer opportunities to succeed. Revenues mostly ping-pong between the biggest games.

To stick with the sports metaphors, it is better to hit a few singles and doubles than swing for a home run and fail.

In the words of Hazelight boss Josef Fares: “I don’t like live service games – I think that they’re bad for the industry. I understand that money is important, and that we live in a capitalist society, but creativity and money have to meet somewhere in the middle.’’

‘’It can’t be either too much creativity or too much money. We should focus on pushing our medium forward: no microtransactions, no BS, just pure gaming love – because, ultimately, great games will do well.”

N6K152 on March 20th, 2025 at 18:07 UTC »

Love couch co-op, only downside is that it's difficult to organize another person to play with for hours as an adult

TehOwn on March 20th, 2025 at 17:40 UTC »

It's 20% that said couch co-op is their favourite way to play.

I expect that a lot more than 20% actually love couch co-op, even if it isn't their favourite.

dtv20 on March 20th, 2025 at 17:16 UTC »

Players yearn for the couches