Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + 4 Player Local

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 4 Player Local Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + 4 Player Local

Of 52 developers who shipped a 4 Player Local Action-Adventure 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.. 84 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×2243 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 84 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 84 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + 4 Player Local
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $70k → $6.3k → $898 → $6.6k → $5.0k → $3.6k → $0 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + 4 Player Local: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,698)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,215)
Top 5% $1.4M (exactly $1,408,560)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 152
Announced 84
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 90% on the market, supply 20% fewer 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.

Action-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
4 Player Local
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action-Adventure, 4 Player Local; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Action, Local Co-Op
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $23.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Family Friendly
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $23.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 35,028 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Party Animals older $19.99 56,043 81% 1.7M $34M (exactly $33,608,987) Recreate Games
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds $69.99 11,479 93% 344k $24M (exactly $24,102,456) Sonic Team
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince older $29.99 11,712 88% 351k $11M (exactly $10,537,286) Frozenbyte
Amazing Frog? · EA older $19.99 11,169 94% 335k $6.7M (exactly $6,698,049) Fayju
Lost Castle 2 $17.99 10,851 78% 326k $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) Hunter Studio
Chronicon older $13.99 8,822 94% 265k $3.7M (exactly $3,702,593) Subworld
SONIC SUPERSTARS older $39.99 2,963 68% 89k $3.6M (exactly $3,554,711) SEGA
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed older $24.99 3,798 90% 114k $2.8M (exactly $2,847,361) Digital Cybercherries
Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Party Dash older $44.99 1,429 75% 43k $1.9M (exactly $1,928,721) Cygames, Inc., Arc System Works
Guacamelee! 2 older $19.99 2,711 91% 81k $1.6M (exactly $1,625,787) Drinkbox Studios
Zort · EA $4.00 11,738 90% 352k $1.4M (exactly $1,408,560) Londer Software
DuneCrawl $19.99 568 74% 17k $341k (exactly $340,630) Alientrap
Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga $34.99 59 94% 1.8k $62k (exactly $61,932) Nihon Falcom
Snow Bros. Wonderland $29.99 40 80% 1.2k $36k (exactly $35,988) Tatsujin, Bitwave Games, Toaplan
Let's Cook Together 2 $23.99 37 75% 1.1k $27k (exactly $26,629) Yellow Dot
Party Club $4.99 158 72% 4.7k $24k (exactly $23,653) Lucid11 Interactive
Big Dig Energy $9.99 59 69% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,682) NuggetSmash
Servonauts $14.99 39 87% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,538) MAXART Games

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