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Should I ship a Combat 4 Player Local game?
Combat + 4 Player Local
Of 115 developers who shipped a Combat 4 Player Local game 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.. 228 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×93 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 228 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $58,488) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 115 |
| Released games | 356 |
| Announced | 228 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 40% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- 4 Player Local
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, 4 Player Local; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Multiplayer, PvP
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 23,011 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 73 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 228 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince | older | $29.99 | 11,712 88% | 351k | $11M (exactly $10,537,286) | Frozenbyte |
| | Rivals of Aether II | $29.99 | 6,980 78% | 209k | $6.3M (exactly $6,279,906) | Aether Studios | |
| | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
| | GRIP: Combat Racing | older | $29.99 | 3,669 86% | 110k | $3.3M (exactly $3,300,999) | Caged Element |
| | Nine Parchments | older | $19.99 | 4,123 77% | 124k | $2.5M (exactly $2,472,563) | Frozenbyte |
| | Wrestling Empire | older | $19.99 | 3,036 94% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,820,689) | MDickie |
| | SpiderHeck | older | $14.99 | 3,922 93% | 118k | $1.8M (exactly $1,763,723) | Neverjam |
| | Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime | older | $14.99 | 3,368 93% | 101k | $1.5M (exactly $1,514,590) | Asteroid Base |
| | GigaBash | older | $24.99 | 1,951 94% | 59k | $1.5M (exactly $1,462,665) | Passion Republic Games |
| | DAVIGO: VR vs. PC | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,200 84% | 36k | $900k (exactly $899,640) | Davigo Studio |
| | Little Fighter 2 Remastered | $15.88 | 1,770 76% | 53k | $843k (exactly $843,228) | Little Fighter Co Pty Ltd, Marti Wong | |
| | A Few Quick Matches | $6.99 | 2,475 85% | 74k | $519k (exactly $519,008) | Studio Bidou | |
| | SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed | $9.99 | 447 55% | 13k | $134k (exactly $133,966) | Fair Play Labs | |
| | Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny | $49.99 | 39 92% | 1.2k | $58k (exactly $58,488) | Petit Fabrik, Fair Play Labs | |
| | BattleCap | $11.99 | 159 96% | 4.8k | $57k (exactly $57,192) | MechAlmond Productions | |
| | Wendigo Blue | · EA | $9.99 | 146 90% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | EndlessFluff |
| | Royalty Free-For-All | $11.99 | 104 86% | 3.1k | $37k (exactly $37,409) | AAAA Games, LLC | |
| | Snow Bros. Wonderland | $29.99 | 40 80% | 1.2k | $36k (exactly $35,988) | Tatsujin, Bitwave Games, Toaplan |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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