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Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Arcade game?
Local Multiplayer + Arcade
Of 508 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Arcade 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.. 665 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×607 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 665 games are announced against 296 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $958 (exactly $958) |
| Top 25% | $5.6k (exactly $5,605) |
| Top 5% | $288k (exactly $288,258) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 508 |
| Released games | 2,057 |
| Announced | 665 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 55% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Local Multiplayer
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Multiplayer, Arcade; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Co-Op, PvP
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 78,512 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 281 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 665 games are announced against 296 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Multiplayer with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + HockeyStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + Hex GridFair
- + ModernFair
- + WargameFair
- + TennisFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + SportsFair
- + RunnerFair
Comparable games
Mortal Kombat 11 2019 · $131M 
TEKKEN 7 2017 · $82M 
Street Fighter™ 6 2023 · $60M 
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- 2021 · $57M 
TEKKEN 8 2024 · $55M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mortal Kombat 11 | older | $49.99 | 87,021 88% | 2.6M | $131M (exactly $130,505,394) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC, Shiver |
| | TEKKEN 7 | older | $39.99 | 68,063 83% | 2.0M | $82M (exactly $81,655,181) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Street Fighter™ 6 | older | $39.99 | 49,952 81% | 1.5M | $60M (exactly $59,927,414) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- | older | $39.99 | 47,650 88% | 1.4M | $57M (exactly $57,165,705) | Arc System Works |
| | TEKKEN 8 | older | $39.99 | 46,009 56% | 1.4M | $55M (exactly $55,196,997) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. |
 | 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 |
 | Rivals of Aether | older | $29.99 | 33,284 96% | 999k | $30M (exactly $29,945,615) | Aether Studios |
 | Injustice™ 2 | older | $49.99 | 17,445 86% | 523k | $26M (exactly $26,162,266) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
 | Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | $69.99 | 11,479 93% | 344k | $24M (exactly $24,102,456) | Sonic Team | |
 | Rhythm Doctor | $19.99 | 25,021 98% | 751k | $15M (exactly $15,005,094) | 7th Beat Games | |
 | MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls | $59.99 | 4,934 48% | 148k | $8.9M (exactly $8,879,720) | ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO., LTD | |
 | THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV | $29.99 | 8,399 83% | 252k | $7.6M (exactly $7,556,580) | SNK CORPORATION | |
 | UFO 50 | $24.99 | 7,134 94% | 214k | $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) | Mossmouth | |
 | Rocksmith® 2014 Edition REMASTERED LEARN & PLAY | $9.99 | 15,615 85% | 468k | $4.7M (exactly $4,679,816) | Ubisoft - San Francisco, Ubisoft - Osaka | |
 | MARVEL Cosmic Invasion | $29.99 | 2,298 88% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,511) | Tribute Games Inc. | |
 | LEGO® Party! | $39.99 | 1,112 87% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) | SMG Studio | |
 | Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage | $19.99 | 1,897 71% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,137,631) | RGG Studio | |
 | Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes | $59.99 | 623 79% | 19k | $1.1M (exactly $1,121,213) | Big Ant Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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