Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Local Co-Op

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Management game?

Management + Local Co-Op

Of 29 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Management 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.. 60 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $34k, ×54 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×771 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 60 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 54.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 60 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Local Co-Op
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $46k → $19k → $49k → $66k → $838 (still earning) → $484k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Local Co-Op: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $1.3k (exactly $1,349)
Median $34k (exactly $34,183)
Top 25% $79k (exactly $78,521)
Top 5% $484k (exactly $484,327)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 83
Announced 60
Effort 5 / 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 90% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Management, Local Co-Op; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 67% positive over 30,083 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.4k, median $34k, 1 in 4 over $78k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 4 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  11. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

NBA 2K25 2024 · $65M NBA 2K26 2025 · $54M Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition 2020 · $42M PlateUp! 2022 · $11M NBA 2K27 2026 · $3.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NBA 2K25 older $69.99 30,969 60% 929k $65M (exactly $65,025,609) Visual Concepts
NBA 2K26 $69.99 25,651 66% 770k $54M (exactly $53,859,405) Visual Concepts
Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition older $29.99 47,176 94% 1.4M $42M (exactly $42,444,247) Thunder Lotus
PlateUp! older $19.99 18,500 94% 555k $11M (exactly $11,094,450) It's happening
NBA 2K27 $69.99 1,698 53% 51k $3.6M (exactly $3,565,291) Visual Concepts
Football, Tactics & Glory older $24.99 3,998 87% 120k $3.0M (exactly $2,997,301) Creoteam
Super Mega Baseball 3 older $44.99 1,832 92% 55k $2.5M (exactly $2,472,650) Metalhead Software Inc.
Feed the Cups · EA older $15.99 4,708 72% 141k $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) Vambear Games
AO Tennis 2 older $49.99 1,236 70% 37k $1.9M (exactly $1,853,629) Big Ant Studios
Cook, Serve, Delicious! older $12.99 3,713 95% 111k $1.4M (exactly $1,446,956) Vertigo Gaming Inc.
Eslabong · EA $14.99 1,077 95% 32k $484k (exactly $484,327) shirowita
AFL 26 $59.99 195 56% 5.9k $351k (exactly $350,942) Big Ant Studios
Cinnabunny $24.99 403 96% 12k $302k (exactly $302,129) Reky Studios
Tour de France 2025 $39.99 182 77% 5.5k $218k (exactly $218,345) Cyanide Studio
Night Club Simulator · EA $14.99 290 60% 8.7k $130k (exactly $130,413) Clock Wizard Games
Summer Islands $14.99 190 81% 5.7k $85k (exactly $85,443) Marttalin Games
Apocalypse Express $9.99 262 81% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,521) Llamaware Studios
Keep Keepers $17.99 135 87% 4.1k $73k (exactly $72,860) Thunderrock Innovations

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