Do I ship it?

Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Futuristic

Of 46 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 78 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $170; 1 in 20 cleared $56k, ×118 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 78 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 78 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 46
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $1.5k → $2.4k → $4.7k → $239 → $8.2k → $1.3k (still earning) → $168 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 46
Bottom 30% $168 (exactly $168)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,559)
Top 25% $8.2k (exactly $8,247)
Top 5% $56k (exactly $56,212)
Developers, 2 yr 46
Released games 161
Announced 78
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Shooter, Arcade
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 4,232 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $170, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $8.2k, 1 in 20 over $56k.

3 in 10 developers made under $170. Nearly all of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

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

The Ascent 2021 · $17M HUNTDOWN 2021 · $2.4M POPUCOM 2025 · $2.1M X-Morph: Defense 2017 · $2.0M SpiderHeck 2022 · $1.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Ascent older $29.99 19,235 74% 577k $17M (exactly $17,305,730) Neon Giant
HUNTDOWN older $19.99 4,059 94% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,434,182) Easy Trigger Games
POPUCOM $19.99 3,432 87% 103k $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) Hypergryph
X-Morph: Defense older $19.99 3,272 90% 98k $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) EXOR Studios
SpiderHeck older $14.99 3,922 93% 118k $1.8M (exactly $1,763,723) Neverjam
Sky Rogue older $19.99 1,059 92% 32k $635k (exactly $635,082) Fractal Phase
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing older $29.99 448 60% 13k $403k (exactly $403,066) KeelWorks
Tesla vs Lovecraft older $14.99 851 89% 26k $383k (exactly $382,695) 10tons Ltd
BlazeRush older $9.99 1,031 88% 31k $309k (exactly $308,991) Targem Games
Neon Inferno $19.99 378 92% 11k $227k (exactly $226,687) Zenovia Interactive
Revolgear Zero $14.99 125 98% 3.8k $56k (exactly $56,212) Bikkuri Software
R-Type Dimensions III $34.99 46 34% 1.4k $48k (exactly $48,286) KRITZELKRATZ 3000
Operation Night Strikers $24.99 48 77% 1.4k $36k (exactly $35,986) M2 Co., Ltd.
Ammo and Oxygen $14.99 53 64% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Juvty Worlds
Aaero2 $14.99 36 94% 1.1k $16k (exactly $16,189) Mad Fellows
Kickback: Shoot to Move! 👾 $6.99 59 100% 1.8k $12k (exactly $12,372) Dot blood
SUPERVERSE $9.99 37 70% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,089) Superverse Industries
NBB.EXE $19.99 18 100% 540 $11k (exactly $10,795) Raptus Games

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