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Should I ship an AI Local Multiplayer game?
Local Multiplayer + Artificial Intelligence
Of 26 developers who shipped an AI Local Multiplayer 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.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $60. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 27 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,609) |
| Top 5% | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 122 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 115% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Artificial Intelligence
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Co-Op, Co-op, PvP
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 64% positive over 12,432 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Local Multiplayer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + HockeyStrong odds
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + Hex GridFair
- + ModernFair
- + WargameFair
- + TennisFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + SportsFair
- + RunnerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | EA SPORTS™ College Football 27 | $69.99 | 2,583 40% | 77k | $5.4M (exactly $5,423,525) | Tiburon | |
| | RIDE 5 | older | $49.99 | 3,368 82% | 101k | $5.1M (exactly $5,050,990) | Milestone S.r.l. |
| | Plants vs. Zombies™: Replanted | $19.99 | 6,898 66% | 207k | $4.1M (exactly $4,136,731) | PopCap Games, The Lost Pixels | |
| | Combat Mission Shock Force 2 | older | $59.99 | 624 80% | 19k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,013) | Battlefront |
| | Little Fighter 2 Remastered | $15.88 | 1,770 76% | 53k | $843k (exactly $843,228) | Little Fighter Co Pty Ltd, Marti Wong | |
| | The Conquest of Go | $14.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $261k (exactly $261,276) | Wolfey Studios | |
| | Tennis World Tour 2 | older | $39.99 | 202 49% | 6.1k | $242k (exactly $242,339) | Big Ant Studios |
| | Death Squared | older | $14.99 | 471 90% | 14k | $212k (exactly $211,809) | SMG Studio |
| | Unspottable | older | $9.99 | 694 89% | 21k | $208k (exactly $207,992) | GrosChevaux |
| | Pure Badminton | $19.99 | 323 81% | 9.7k | $194k (exactly $193,703) | DS SOFT | |
| | Deviation Game | · EA | $14.99 | 109 90% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | Tomo Kihara, Playfool |
| | おしゃべりキング!コミュ力診断ゲーム | $8.99 | 69 97% | 2.1k | $19k (exactly $18,609) | Hyper Index, Inc. | |
| | THE WALLWAY | · EA | $9.99 | 35 5% | 1.1k | $10k (exactly $10,490) | Daniel Seman |
| | Chess Kingdom | $4.99 | 45 91% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Pinch Games | |
| | Battle Architect: Dalasito | · EA | $9.99 | 19 52% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Dalas |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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