Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Female Protagonist

Of 72 developers who shipped a Female-Led 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.. 80 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×14 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×1305 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 80 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 13.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 80 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 72
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $227k → $22k → $27k → $1.9k → $13k → $4.2k → $24k (still earning) → $683 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 72
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $6.6k (exactly $6,625)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $49,188)
Top 5% $620k (exactly $619,864)
Developers, 2 yr 72
Released games 257
Announced 80
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $10.99

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 35% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$10.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Third Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 184,483 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $6.6k, 1 in 4 over $49k, 1 in 20 over $610k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 80 games are announced against 43 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
It Takes Two older $39.99 218,492 95% 6.6M $262M (exactly $262,124,852) Hazelight Studios
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition older $44.99 180,782 95% 5.4M $244M (exactly $244,001,465) Larian Studios
EA SPORTS FC™ 26 $69.99 99,773 50% 3.0M $209M (exactly $209,493,368) EA Canada, EA Romania
Split Fiction $49.99 78,378 97% 2.4M $118M (exactly $117,543,487) Hazelight Studios
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition older $29.99 47,176 94% 1.4M $42M (exactly $42,444,247) Thunder Lotus
Resident Evil 6 older $19.99 51,420 77% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,836,574) Capcom
Resident Evil 5 older $19.99 48,521 87% 1.5M $29M (exactly $29,098,044) Capcom
Tales of Berseria™ older $49.99 14,380 91% 431k $22M (exactly $21,565,686) BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Gears 5 older $29.99 21,210 72% 636k $19M (exactly $19,082,637) The Coalition
Resident Evil Revelations 2 older $19.99 25,446 78% 763k $15M (exactly $15,259,966) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Onirism $17.99 1,337 82% 40k $722k (exactly $721,579) Crimson Tales
Scarlet Idol $7.99 2,586 66% 78k $620k (exactly $619,864) 山雨工作室
Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark $29.99 560 65% 17k $504k (exactly $503,832) INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
LEGO® Horizon Adventures™ $39.99 403 60% 12k $483k (exactly $483,479) Guerrilla Games, Studio Gobo
Tales of Xillia Remastered $39.99 392 76% 12k $470k (exactly $470,282) DOKIDOKI GROOVEWORKS, Inc.
Scott Pilgrim EX $28.99 471 85% 14k $410k (exactly $409,629) Tribute Games Inc.
Neon Inferno $19.99 378 92% 11k $227k (exactly $226,687) Zenovia Interactive
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate $24.99 205 84% 6.2k $154k (exactly $153,688) Rocket Panda Games Japan

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