Do I ship it?

Games › Local Multiplayer › Local Multiplayer + Dark Fantasy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Local Multiplayer game?

Local Multiplayer + Dark Fantasy

Of 24 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 36 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×183 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 36 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 36 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Multiplayer + Dark Fantasy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $23k → $2.5k → $7.3k → $115k → $899 → $2.7k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Multiplayer + Dark Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $3.9k (exactly $3,892)
Top 5% $115k (exactly $115,123)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 78
Announced 36
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 100% on the market, supply 400% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 Multiplayer
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Dark Fantasy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Local Multiplayer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Local Co-Op, PvP
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 1980s, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 5,283 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $600, 1 in 4 over $3.8k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Multiplayer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HockeyStrong odds11 devs · median $3.0k · 12 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair61 devs · median $5.8k · 64 announced
  3. + Action RPGFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  4. + Hex GridFair12 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  5. + ModernFair24 devs · median $3.6k · 16 announced
  6. + WargameFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  7. + TennisFair18 devs · median $2.3k · 10 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair26 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  10. + Football (American)Fair13 devs · median $1.8k · 4 announced
  11. + SportsFair196 devs · median $1.6k · 208 announced
  12. + RunnerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced

All 174 pairs on the Local Multiplayer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls 2025 · $8.7M Warhammer: Chaosbane 2019 · $2.9M Gal Guardians: Demon Purge 2023 · $996k Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 2020 · $695k Blightbound 2021 · $572k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls $59.99 4,831 68% 145k $8.7M (exactly $8,694,351) TAMSOFT CORPORATION
Warhammer: Chaosbane older $29.99 3,274 60% 98k $2.9M (exactly $2,945,618) Eko Software
Gal Guardians: Demon Purge older $24.99 1,329 80% 40k $996k (exactly $996,351) INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 older $14.99 1,546 84% 46k $695k (exactly $695,236) INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
Blightbound older $19.99 953 62% 29k $572k (exactly $571,514) Ronimo Games
Aeon's End older $14.99 438 82% 13k $197k (exactly $196,969) Handelabra Games Inc.
Sword of the Necromancer older $14.99 275 69% 8.3k $124k (exactly $123,668) Grimorio of Games
Two Strikes $14.99 256 89% 7.7k $115k (exactly $115,123) Retro Reactor
The Black Heart older $9.99 295 96% 8.9k $88k (exactly $88,412) Andrés Borghi
Watcher Chronicles older $19.99 138 84% 4.1k $83k (exactly $82,759) Third Sphere Game Studios
Forest of Deceit $9.99 35 100% 1.1k $10k (exactly $10,490) Ghost Camp
CODEX MORTIS · EA $3.99 61 80% 1.8k $7.3k (exactly $7,302) GROLAF
Kingdoms And Slaves $6.99 23 82% 690 $4.8k (exactly $4,823) TGM
Zombies Attack $4.99 26 100% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Liao Kai, LKK GAME
Crypt Crawler $7.99 15 100% 450 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Wild Domain
Dragon Blaze $9.99 9 100% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Zerodiv
Rough Rivals $5.99 10 100% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) Constantin Roussel
Shrine Of The Forest God $2.99 17 100% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Dustin.

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