Games › Action › Action + Local Co-Op
Should I ship a Local Co-Op Action game?
Action + Local Co-Op
Of 584 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Action 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.. 987 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $510k, ×826 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 987 games are announced against 329 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,887) |
| Top 25% | $16k (exactly $16,192) |
| Top 5% | $519k (exactly $519,008) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 584 |
| Released games | 2,603 |
| Announced | 987 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 55% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Local Co-Op
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Local Co-Op; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Local Multiplayer, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 171,058 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 306 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 987 games are announced against 329 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Left 4 Dead 2 2009 · $245M 
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth 2014 · $187M 
Cuphead 2017 · $119M 
Split Fiction 2025 · $118M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Left 4 Dead 2 | older | $9.99 | 816,316 97% | 24M | $245M (exactly $244,649,905) | Valve |
| | The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | older | $14.99 | 415,060 96% | 12M | $187M (exactly $186,652,482) | Nicalis, Inc., Edmund McMillen |
| | Cuphead | older | $19.99 | 198,790 96% | 6.0M | $119M (exactly $119,214,363) | Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc. |
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
 | Human Fall Flat | older | $19.99 | 174,835 94% | 5.2M | $105M (exactly $104,848,549) | No Brakes Games |
 | A Way Out | older | $29.99 | 78,174 87% | 2.3M | $70M (exactly $70,333,148) | Hazelight Studios |
 | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
 | Mortal Kombat 1 | older | $49.99 | 34,197 74% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,285,241) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
 | Castle Crashers® | older | $14.99 | 109,654 96% | 3.3M | $49M (exactly $49,311,404) | The Behemoth |
 | Grounded 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 21,442 82% | 643k | $19M (exactly $19,291,367) | Obsidian Entertainment, Eidos-Montréal |
 | LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight | $69.99 | 8,728 95% | 262k | $18M (exactly $18,326,182) | TT Games | |
 | Rhythm Doctor | $19.99 | 25,021 98% | 751k | $15M (exactly $15,005,094) | 7th Beat Games | |
 | Absolum | $24.99 | 9,399 91% | 282k | $7.0M (exactly $7,046,430) | Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks | |
 | Rotwood | $29.99 | 7,459 74% | 224k | $6.7M (exactly $6,710,862) | Klei Entertainment | |
 | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
 | Gears of War: Reloaded | $39.99 | 3,950 61% | 119k | $4.7M (exactly $4,738,815) | The Coalition | |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate | $29.99 | 4,143 83% | 124k | $3.7M (exactly $3,727,457) | Super Evil Megacorp | |
 | The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales | $59.99 | 1,687 78% | 51k | $3.0M (exactly $3,036,094) | Square Enix, Claytechworks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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