Do I ship it?

Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Aliens

Of 37 developers who shipped an Alien Local Co-Op 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.. 36 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 36 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 36 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $4.3k → $5.4k → $539 → $300 → $628 → $5.4k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,189)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $83,217)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 146
Announced 36
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.00

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 15% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Co-op
Price point
$6.00 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller, 1990's
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,538 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $630, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different setting or mood, 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

Serious Sam 3: BFE 2011 · $20M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 2019 · $17M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 2024 · $11M EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair 2016 · $4.7M Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed 2022 · $2.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Serious Sam 3: BFE older $29.99 21,834 87% 655k $20M (exactly $19,644,050) Croteam
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 older $59.99 9,375 93% 281k $17M (exactly $16,872,188) SANDLOT
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6 older $59.99 6,225 69% 187k $11M (exactly $11,203,132) SANDLOT
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair older $19.99 7,776 95% 233k $4.7M (exactly $4,663,267) SANDLOT
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed older $39.99 2,271 79% 68k $2.7M (exactly $2,724,519) Black Forest Games
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON RAIN older $59.99 1,256 58% 38k $2.3M (exactly $2,260,423) YUKE'S
X-Morph: Defense older $19.99 3,272 90% 98k $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) EXOR Studios
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
DG2: Defense Grid 2 older $9.99 2,704 86% 81k $810k (exactly $810,389) Hidden Path Entertainment
Space Beast Terror Fright older $14.99 1,255 91% 38k $564k (exactly $564,374) nornware AB
MARVEL MaXimum Collection $24.99 111 76% 3.3k $83k (exactly $83,217) Limited Run Games
Chip ‘n Clawz vs. The Brainioids $29.99 90 83% 2.7k $81k (exactly $80,973) Snapshot Games Inc.
R-Type Dimensions III $34.99 46 34% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) KRITZELKRATZ 3000
Flying Tank $14.99 97 86% 2.9k $44k (exactly $43,621) Hexage
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios
Operation Night Strikers $24.99 48 77% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) M2 Co., Ltd.
X-Out: Resurfaced $19.99 41 95% 1.2k $25k (exactly $24,588) KRITZELKRATZ 3000, Rainbow Arts
Alien Strike: Blasting the Intruders $9.99 57 85% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,083) Combo Game Studio
Aaero2 $14.99 36 94% 1.1k $16k (exactly $16,189) Mad Fellows

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