Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + LGBTQ+
Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Local Co-Op game?
Local Co-Op + LGBTQ+
Only 11 developers shipped an LGBTQ+ Local Co-Op game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, NBA 2K26, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $14k, ×30 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.4k. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $14k (exactly $14,393) |
| Top 25% | $70k (exactly $70,153) |
| Top 5% | $7.4M (exactly $7,393,168) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
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
- LGBTQ+
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Co-Op; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Online Co-Op, Character Customization
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $69.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $69.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 66% positive over 32,439 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 3 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Local Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootStrong odds
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + ModernFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Board GameFair
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + MedievalFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
Comparable games
NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M 
Mortal Kombat 1 2023 · $51M 
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R 2022 · $22M 
Gears 5 2019 · $19M 
WWE 2K25 2025 · $7.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NBA 2K26 | $69.99 | 25,651 66% | 770k | $54M (exactly $53,859,405) | Visual Concepts | |
| | Mortal Kombat 1 | older | $49.99 | 34,197 74% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $51,285,241) | NetherRealm Studios, QLOC |
| | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R | older | $49.99 | 14,344 91% | 430k | $22M (exactly $21,511,697) | CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. |
| | Gears 5 | older | $29.99 | 21,210 72% | 636k | $19M (exactly $19,082,637) | The Coalition |
| | WWE 2K25 | $59.99 | 4,108 73% | 123k | $7.4M (exactly $7,393,168) | Visual Concepts | |
 | Haven | older | $24.99 | 5,294 88% | 159k | $4.0M (exactly $3,968,912) | The Game Bakers |
 | NBA 2K27 | $69.99 | 1,698 53% | 51k | $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) | Visual Concepts | |
 | Chicory: A Colorful Tale | older | $19.99 | 3,407 97% | 102k | $2.0M (exactly $2,043,178) | Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean… (Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, A Shell in the Pit) |
 | Genital Jousting | older | $6.99 | 8,699 92% | 261k | $1.8M (exactly $1,824,180) | Free Lives |
 | Timespinner | older | $19.99 | 2,823 86% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) | Lunar Ray Games |
 | LEGO® Horizon Adventures™ | $39.99 | 403 60% | 12k | $483k (exactly $483,479) | Guerrilla Games, Studio Gobo | |
 | Monaco 2 | $14.99 | 156 63% | 4.7k | $70k (exactly $70,153) | Pocketwatch Games | |
 | Sex With Friends | $4.99 | 236 94% | 7.1k | $35k (exactly $35,329) | B-Team | |
 | Wirm | $6.99 | 147 93% | 4.4k | $31k (exactly $30,826) | Sbug Games | |
 | Capy Castaway | $19.99 | 24 70% | 720 | $14k (exactly $14,393) | Kitten Cup Studio | |
 | Waifu Discovered 3: Cyberpunk Fantasy | $6.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) | One-Hand-Free Studios | |
 | High Spirits | $14.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Petri Dish Studios |
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.