Do I ship it?

GamesAction RPGAction RPG + Local Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Action RPG?

Action RPG + Local Co-Op

Of 68 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Action RPG 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.. 82 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×4.0 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.7k. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 82 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 82 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action RPG + Local Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 68
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.7k → $6.7k → $8.4k → $13k → $11k → $3.6k → $4.8k (still earning) → $5.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action RPG + Local Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 68
Bottom 30% $1.6k (exactly $1,618)
Median $6.0k (exactly $5,994)
Top 25% $76k (exactly $75,546)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243)
Developers, 2 yr 68
Released games 235
Announced 82
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.99

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 up 30% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action RPG
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
Action RPG, Local Co-Op; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $28.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $28.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 12,883 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.7k, median $6.0k, 1 in 4 over $75k, 1 in 20 over $1.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.7k. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 82 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + NavalFair17 devs · median $15k · 11 announced
  2. + WesternFair13 devs · median $5.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Local MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  4. + Walking SimulatorLong shot35 devs · median $450 · 33 announced
  5. + WuxiaPoor odds7 devs · median $198k · 28 announced
  6. + Character Action GamePoor odds14 devs · median $105k · 55 announced
  7. + MechsPoor odds21 devs · median $59k · 43 announced
  8. + Colony SimPoor odds11 devs · median $58k · 35 announced
  9. + Dating SimPoor odds31 devs · median $44k · 47 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds23 devs · median $26k · 69 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds77 devs · median $25k · 91 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds44 devs · median $23k · 78 announced

All 211 pairs on the Action RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Vampire Survivors older $4.99 251,686 98% 7.6M $38M (exactly $37,677,394) poncle
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE older $64.98 17,554 89% 527k $34M (exactly $34,219,768) DIMPS
Tales of Berseria™ older $49.99 14,380 91% 431k $22M (exactly $21,565,686) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
DYNASTY WARRIORS 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition older $49.99 11,886 83% 357k $18M (exactly $17,825,434) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands older $29.99 17,779 70% 533k $16M (exactly $15,995,766) Gearbox Software
Resident Evil Revelations 2 older $19.99 25,446 78% 763k $15M (exactly $15,259,966) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Children of Morta older $21.99 18,213 88% 546k $12M (exactly $12,015,116) Dead Mage
Salt and Sanctuary older $17.99 20,081 89% 602k $11M (exactly $10,837,716) Ska Studios
Tales of Zestiria older $49.99 7,187 80% 216k $11M (exactly $10,778,344) BANDAI NAMCO Studio Inc.
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
Dragonkin: The Banished $24.99 2,239 72% 67k $1.7M (exactly $1,678,578) Eko Software
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North™ - Legacy Edition $19.99 1,858 83% 56k $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) Aspyr Media
Tales of Graces f Remastered $39.99 773 87% 23k $927k (exactly $927,368) TOSE CO., LTD.
Tales of Xillia Remastered $39.99 392 76% 12k $470k (exactly $470,282) DOKIDOKI GROOVEWORKS, Inc.
Scott Pilgrim EX $28.99 471 85% 14k $410k (exactly $409,629) Tribute Games Inc.
DuneCrawl $19.99 568 74% 17k $341k (exactly $340,630) Alientrap
Coridden $19.99 426 89% 13k $255k (exactly $255,472) Aftnareld
Kingdom of Night $19.99 326 86% 9.8k $196k (exactly $195,502) Friends of Safety

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