Do I ship it?

GamesLocal Co-OpLocal Co-Op + Party Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Party Game?

Local Co-Op + Party Game

Of 116 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op Party 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.. 239 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $160; 1 in 20 cleared $49k, ×103 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 239 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 239 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Party Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 116
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $14k → $3.6k → $11k → $5.8k → $1.2k → $6.7k → $300 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Party Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 116
Bottom 30% $158 (exactly $158)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,823)
Top 5% $49k (exactly $49,017)
Developers, 2 yr 116
Released games 285
Announced 239
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 265% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Party Game
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, Party Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Multiplayer, Co-op, 4 Player Local
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, Family Friendly, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,591 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $160, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $4.8k, 1 in 20 over $49k.

3 in 10 developers made under $160. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 239 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different second tag, 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
Party Animals older $19.99 56,043 81% 1.7M $34M (exactly $33,608,987) Recreate Games
Gang Beasts older $19.99 54,880 85% 1.6M $33M (exactly $32,911,536) Boneloaf, Rocket Science
Pummel Party older $14.99 46,134 88% 1.4M $21M (exactly $20,746,460) Rebuilt Games
Ultimate Chicken Horse older $14.99 41,060 95% 1.2M $18M (exactly $18,464,682) Clever Endeavour Games
Move or Die older $14.99 16,479 89% 494k $7.4M (exactly $7,410,606) Xelu, Those Awesome Guys
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes older $14.99 14,331 97% 430k $6.4M (exactly $6,444,651) Steel Crate Games
Tricky Towers older $14.99 12,390 90% 372k $5.6M (exactly $5,571,783) WeirdBeard
Super Bunny Man older $14.99 10,143 85% 304k $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) Catobyte
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 older $24.99 5,139 96% 154k $3.9M (exactly $3,852,708) Jackbox Games, Inc.
The Jackbox Party Pack 7 older $29.99 4,001 96% 120k $3.6M (exactly $3,599,700) Jackbox Games, Inc.
LEGO® Party! $39.99 1,112 87% 33k $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) SMG Studio
The Jackbox Party Pack 11 $29.99 419 93% 13k $377k (exactly $376,974) Jackbox Games, Inc.
Choppy Cuts $16.99 261 75% 7.8k $133k (exactly $133,032) Moco Studios I
Escape From Mandrillia: Local Asymmetric VR+PC $12.99 181 95% 5.4k $71k (exactly $70,536) German Bandera
BattleCap $11.99 159 96% 4.8k $57k (exactly $57,192) MechAlmond Productions
Deviation Game · EA $14.99 109 90% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) Tomo Kihara, Playfool
Heave Ho 2 $9.99 105 90% 3.2k $31k (exactly $31,468) Le Cartel Studio
The You Quiz $9.99 100 93% 3.0k $30k (exactly $29,970) Hazard Wizard
Pimbolas $9.99 89 94% 2.7k $27k (exactly $26,673) Nano Knight Studio
Dino Party $11.99 56 98% 1.7k $20k (exactly $20,143) Studio Nachtwerk

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