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Should I ship a Local Co-Op Metroidvania?
Local Co-Op + Metroidvania
Only 18 developers shipped a Local Co-Op Metroidvania 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, Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×23 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $500k, ×1061 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $10,795) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $41,379) |
| Top 5% | $504k (exactly $503,832) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 62 |
| Announced | 30 |
| 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 45% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Metroidvania
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Local Co-Op, Metroidvania; all of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,908 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $4.3k. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LootStrong odds
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Action RPGFair
- + ModernFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + Board GameFair
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + MedievalFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove 2014 · $17M 
Salt and Sanctuary 2016 · $11M 
Dungreed 2018 · $2.7M 
Wuppo: Definitive Edition 2016 · $2.2M 
Chicory: A Colorful Tale 2021 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove | older | $39.99 | 14,211 95% | 426k | $17M (exactly $17,048,937) | Yacht Club Games |
| | Salt and Sanctuary | older | $17.99 | 20,081 89% | 602k | $11M (exactly $10,837,716) | Ska Studios |
| | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
| | Wuppo: Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 4,949 94% | 148k | $2.2M (exactly $2,225,565) | snekflat |
| | 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) |
 | Timespinner | older | $19.99 | 2,823 86% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) | Lunar Ray Games |
 | Guacamelee! 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,711 91% | 81k | $1.6M (exactly $1,625,787) | Drinkbox Studios |
 | Guacamelee! Gold Edition | older | $14.99 | 3,154 93% | 95k | $1.4M (exactly $1,418,354) | Drinkbox Studios |
 | Infernax | older | $19.99 | 2,128 93% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,276,162) | Berzerk Studio |
 | Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,633 93% | 79k | $1.2M (exactly $1,184,060) | Drinkbox Studios |
 | Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark | $29.99 | 560 65% | 17k | $504k (exactly $503,832) | INTI CREATES CO., LTD. | |
 | Primal Planet | $19.99 | 629 88% | 19k | $377k (exactly $377,211) | Seethingswarm | |
 | Tearscape | $14.99 | 334 90% | 10k | $150k (exactly $150,200) | NERDS TAKE OVER | |
 | Isle of Reveries | $19.99 | 87 91% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | desertcucco | |
 | Anima Flux | $19.99 | 69 78% | 2.1k | $41k (exactly $41,379) | Avantaj Prim | |
 | Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege | $9.99 | 109 94% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | Lillymo Games | |
 | Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey and Friends | $29.99 | 31 93% | 930 | $28k (exactly $27,891) | Dlala Studios | |
 | Q2 HUMANITY | $8.99 | 56 89% | 1.7k | $15k (exactly $15,103) | liica, Inc. | |
 | NBB.EXE | $19.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $11k (exactly $10,795) | Raptus Games | |
 | Leif's Adventure: Netherworld Hero | $19.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) | OneManOnMars Art & Games e.K |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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