Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Magic

Of 39 developers who shipped a Magic 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.. 86 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×653 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 86 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 86 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $358 → $2.5k → $7.6k → $1.5k → $1.7k → $11k → $899 (still earning) → $7.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,215)
Top 5% $310k (exactly $310,396)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 188
Announced 86
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 10% 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
Magic
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, Co-op, Action-Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 3,709 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $310k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince older $29.99 11,712 88% 351k $11M (exactly $10,537,286) Frozenbyte
Trine 2: Complete Story older $19.99 15,273 95% 458k $9.2M (exactly $9,159,218) Frozenbyte
Heroes® of Might & Magic® III - HD Edition older $14.99 20,127 79% 604k $9.1M (exactly $9,051,112) Dotemu
Wizard of Legend older $15.99 17,322 91% 520k $8.3M (exactly $8,309,363) Contingent99
Might & Magic® Heroes® VII older $29.99 6,836 54% 205k $6.2M (exactly $6,150,349) Limbic Entertainment
Trine Enchanted Edition older $14.99 12,843 95% 385k $5.8M (exactly $5,775,497) Frozenbyte
Magicka older $9.99 19,174 84% 575k $5.7M (exactly $5,746,448) Arrowhead Game Studios
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power older $21.99 7,301 63% 219k $4.8M (exactly $4,816,470) Frozenbyte
Rabbit and Steel older $14.99 10,159 96% 305k $4.6M (exactly $4,568,502) mino_dev
Magicka 2 older $14.99 9,486 82% 285k $4.3M (exactly $4,265,854) Pieces Interactive
LEGO® Harry Potter™ Collection $39.99 1,464 82% 44k $1.8M (exactly $1,756,361) TT Games, Double Eleven
Nikoderiko: The Magical World — Director’s Cut $29.99 345 82% 10k $310k (exactly $310,396) VEA Games
Abandoned Archive $5.99 749 93% 22k $135k (exactly $134,595) Vedal
The Awakener: Battle Tendency $14.98 233 74% 7.0k $105k (exactly $104,710) TANER GAMES
Shrine's Legacy $19.99 155 82% 4.7k $93k (exactly $92,954) Positive Concept Games
Final Knight · EA $13.99 180 77% 5.4k $76k (exactly $75,546) 2oclocksoft
Royal Revolt Survivors $9.99 205 77% 6.2k $61k (exactly $61,438) Team Warriors
Heroes Of Might And Magic III $9.99 166 50% 5.0k $50k (exactly $49,750) Ubisoft, New World Computing
I'm No Demonlord $8.99 163 84% 4.9k $44k (exactly $43,961) NiaoWu Studio
King's Blade $8.99 49 81% 1.5k $13k (exactly $13,215) Alexey Suslin

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