Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op 2D Platformer?

Local Co-Op + 2D Platformer

Of 170 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op 2D Platformer 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.. 218 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $40k, ×85 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 218 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 218 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 170
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $3.7k → $748 → $1.6k → $1.5k → $1.9k → $479 (still earning) → $450 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 170
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $5.8k (exactly $5,846)
Top 5% $40k (exactly $40,460)
Developers, 2 yr 170
Released games 511
Announced 218
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 25% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Local Co-Op, 2D Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Co-op, Platformer
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 4,451 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $900, 1 in 4 over $5.8k, 1 in 20 over $40k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 89 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 218 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair11 devs · median $14k · 12 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair16 devs · median $11k · 15 announced
  4. + TriviaFair12 devs · median $7.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Action RPGFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  6. + ModernFair11 devs · median $3.6k · 10 announced
  7. + Dark FantasyFair40 devs · median $2.7k · 47 announced
  8. + Board GameFair35 devs · median $2.4k · 41 announced
  9. + Dungeon CrawlerFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  10. + MedievalFair46 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair22 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced

All 151 pairs on the Local Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BattleBlock Theater® older $14.99 55,793 97% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,090,112) The Behemoth
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R older $49.99 14,344 91% 430k $22M (exactly $21,511,697) CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd.
Ultimate Chicken Horse older $14.99 41,060 95% 1.2M $18M (exactly $18,464,682) Clever Endeavour Games
Spelunky 2 older $19.99 19,736 93% 592k $12M (exactly $11,835,679) Mossmouth, BlitWorks
Trine 2: Complete Story older $19.99 15,273 95% 458k $9.2M (exactly $9,159,218) Frozenbyte
Trine Enchanted Edition older $14.99 12,843 95% 385k $5.8M (exactly $5,775,497) Frozenbyte
Super Bunny Man older $14.99 10,143 85% 304k $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) Catobyte
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
SONIC SUPERSTARS older $39.99 2,963 68% 89k $3.6M (exactly $3,554,711) SEGA
HUNTDOWN older $19.99 4,059 94% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) Easy Trigger Games
Iron Meat $19.99 982 96% 29k $589k (exactly $588,905) Ivan Valeryevich Suvorov, Retroware
Primal Planet $19.99 629 88% 19k $377k (exactly $377,211) Seethingswarm
Twin Shot Deluxe $9.99 1,167 95% 35k $350k (exactly $349,750) Nitrome Limited
Windswept $19.99 470 92% 14k $282k (exactly $281,859) WeatherFell
Tearscape $14.99 334 90% 10k $150k (exactly $150,200) NERDS TAKE OVER
Brave Escape $19.99 145 97% 4.4k $87k (exactly $86,956) Hit Start Studios
Super Alloy Crush · EA $11.99 194 90% 5.8k $70k (exactly $69,782) Alloy Mushroom
Stuck Together $11.99 161 88% 4.8k $58k (exactly $57,912) Hugecalf Studios
Dark Scrolls $9.99 135 56% 4.1k $40k (exactly $40,460) doinksoft
Chaos Faction Legacy Collection $4.99 234 93% 7.0k $35k (exactly $35,030) George "EON" Eade

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