Games › Driving › Driving + Local Multiplayer
Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Driving game?
Driving + Local Multiplayer
Of 52 developers who shipped a Local Multiplayer Driving 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.. 91 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×474 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 91 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,545) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,682) |
| Top 5% | $297k (exactly $297,451) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 224 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Driving
- effort 6 / 10 · low · vehicle handling feel is tuned by hand
- Local Multiplayer
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Driving, Local Multiplayer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Racing, Split Screen, PvP
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 3,129 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Driving with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Split ScreenFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MusicFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + LogicFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
DIRT 5 2020 · $6.4M 
FlatOut 2 2006 · $5.8M 
RIDE 5 2023 · $5.1M 
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™ 2021 · $4.9M 
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage Collector's Edition 2008 · $4.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DIRT 5 | older | $59.99 | 3,530 59% | 106k | $6.4M (exactly $6,352,941) | Codemasters |
| | FlatOut 2 | older | $9.99 | 19,466 95% | 584k | $5.8M (exactly $5,833,960) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
| | RIDE 5 | older | $49.99 | 3,368 82% | 101k | $5.1M (exactly $5,050,990) | Milestone S.r.l. |
| | HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™ | older | $29.99 | 5,427 81% | 163k | $4.9M (exactly $4,882,672) | Milestone S.r.l. |
| | FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage Collector's Edition | older | $19.99 | 6,747 89% | 202k | $4.0M (exactly $4,046,176) | Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Me… (Bugbear Entertainment, ZOOM Platform Media, Jordan Freeman Group) |
 | GRIP: Combat Racing | older | $29.99 | 3,669 86% | 110k | $3.3M (exactly $3,300,999) | Caged Element |
 | Trackmania United Forever | older | $29.99 | 2,488 94% | 75k | $2.2M (exactly $2,238,454) | Nadeo |
 | Trackmania® Turbo | older | $39.99 | 1,520 66% | 46k | $1.8M (exactly $1,823,544) | Nadeo |
 | TRAIL OUT | older | $19.99 | 3,019 81% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,810,494) | GOOD BOYS |
 | TrackMania² Stadium | older | $9.99 | 5,340 88% | 160k | $1.6M (exactly $1,600,398) | Nadeo |
 | MotoGP™25 | $49.99 | 592 74% | 18k | $888k (exactly $887,822) | Milestone S.r.l. | |
 | MotoGP™26 | $59.99 | 225 64% | 6.8k | $405k (exactly $404,932) | Milestone S.r.l. | |
 | Victory Heat Rally | $19.99 | 599 88% | 18k | $359k (exactly $359,220) | Skydevilpalm | |
 | WheelMates | $19.99 | 496 75% | 15k | $297k (exactly $297,451) | Firevolt | |
 | World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing 24 Gold Edition | $39.99 | 243 89% | 7.3k | $292k (exactly $291,527) | Monster Games, Amber | |
 | XF Extreme Formula | $11.99 | 366 90% | 11k | $132k (exactly $131,650) | Feperd Games | |
 | BeaterCore | $9.99 | 322 82% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $96,503) | Artem Arbatsky | |
 | HOT WHEELS™ Infinite Rush | $49.99 | 55 65% | 1.7k | $82k (exactly $82,484) | Milestone S.r.l. | |
 | Slip & Skid | $12.99 | 141 97% | 4.2k | $55k (exactly $54,948) | NHOGS Interactive | |
 | Moorhuhn Kart 4 | $19.99 | 90 86% | 2.7k | $54k (exactly $53,973) | Korion Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.